Panama's government is to reactivate the discussion on a bill to immobilize bearer shares, with extensive consultation with the sectors involved.
The bill has the support of most international bankers and lawyers. However in the view of attorney Adolfo Linares, the law assumes submitting to the demands of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organization which is trying to limit the jurisdiction of Panama's financial center in order to promote the interests of its member countries.
An alliance of small territories has been proposed to encourage a discussion with the OECD over financial centers, and bring it to the attention of the United Nations.
An article in Prensa.com examines the opinions of a variety of analysts at the second Step Latam Conference held in Panama, regarding pressure from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on countries to comply with their requirements on tax information exchange.
Panama's competitiveness as a financial services center is being affected by tax information exchange treaties that are not two-way.
Panama has a tradition of double taxation which is not recognized by other nations who also require the signing of Information Exchange Agreements (IEA), but they are not based on reciprocity and this affects the competitiveness of banks and the country, said Adolfo Linares, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Panama.
The international fair is organized by the Tourism Chamber, and will take place on October 7 and 8.
Its objective is to boost the tourism industry, and it is intended for air travel companies, hotels and tourism schools, among others.
Adolfo Linares, president of the Panamanian Commerce Chamber, stated in a press conference that "the Chamber is doing everything to ensure a successful first edition of Expo Turismo".
The Industry Chamber proposed lowering the tax from 2.1% to 0.5%.
Nowadays Panama has the highest rate in Latin America, said Chamber president Adolfo Linares. As an example, he commented that Colombia has a 0.75% tax, Guatemala 0.56% and Mexico 0.5%.
Luis Cucalón, from the Economy Ministry, said that "all the proposals will be analyzed by a commission headed by MEF, and all viable propositions will be taken into consideration".
The special program established in 2007, aiming to bring big corporations to the country, is working out.
Panamanian Industry and Commerce minister, Roberto Henríquez, stated that the country aims to receive $1 billion in foreign investment for every year of the current government.
Even though the minister refused to enter into details, he said they are studying proposals by several multinational corporations, who seek the benefits of the special program for setting up shop in the Canal country.
The 75% reduction of the flat rate will be applied to micro- and small-businesses that invoice less than $500,000 per year.
This measure will be enacted by President-elect Ricardo Martinelli in his first 100 days in government, and it entails applying tiered discounts of up to 75% of the flat rate paid by businesses that invoice less than $500,000 annually.
With the exception of car sales, retail trade in Panama has not been affected by the economic crisis.
Although collection of the tax levied on personal property transfers was not good in January and February, the tide began to turn in March, which closed the first quarter of 2009 with a 19.3% increase over the same period last year.
Despite generally maintaining investment and expansion plans, entrepreneurs are cautious and attentive to the evolution of the crisis. Jack Eskenazi, president of the Association of Dealers in Panama, told Martesfinanciero.com that "investors and local businesses are taking steps to reduce investment growth for the next few years, but there are several shopping centers already programmed with a high percentage of sold or rented premises, which are necessary for the country's economic and population growth."
Despite rapid development in recent years, there remain serious obstacles in order to progress beyond what has been achieved in Panama.
These obstacles are structural defects that have to be corrected, such as the inefficiency of public administration, people with low education, lack of skilled labor, regions far away from the capital lacking basic services and serious problems in transportation and health.
Exporters requested an explanation from the Government for the negligence that will probably exclude the country from the preferential tariffs system.
"It will be very difficult to correct this error, and even more difficult for the EU to break its procedure in order to help Panama, since they would be setting a precedent for other countries that did not complete the requirements either," said the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Adolfo Linares.
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