In Panama, a bill is planned to convert the provinces of Los Santos and Herrera into a Special Economic Zone, which will offer tax and labor incentives to companies in the agricultural sector that decide to invest in the area.
Representative Julio Mendoza, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, announced that in the coming weeks he will present a bill to the Assembly to create the Special Economic Zone of Azuero.
The three presidential candidates at the top of the polls say they will not propose tax reforms during their tenure.
Capital.com.pa reports that "The issue was discussed at the last forum organized by the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDA), which evaluated the economic and fiscal impact of electoral promises."
Jose Domingo Arias (Democratic Change), Juan Carlos Navarro (Democratic Revolutionary Party), and Juan Carlos Varela (Panamanian Party) are the three candidates for the Presidency of Panama that have the highest chance of winning, according to polls. The three "... assure that they will not impose new taxes."
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.
The opposition Alliance for Change candidate was elected the next president of Panama by a wide margin.
With 91% of the polling stations having been examined, Ricardo Martinelli had obtained 60.31% of the votes, followed by the official candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Balbina Herrera, who had accumulated 37.33% and Guillermo Endara, who had received 2.35%.
The period for electoral propaganda ends today, just three days from the May 3 elections.
Panamanians will elect the successor to current President Martín Torrijos for the period 2009-2014.
Prensa.com reported: "The candidates for the Presidential Seat are: Ricardo Martinelli of the opposition Alliance for Change, the official candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Balbina Herrera and former president Guillermo Endara, of Moral Vanguard for the Country (VMP)."
For whoever wins the elections on May 3, the main challenge will be to maintain the economic growth that has averaged 8% annually in recent years.
Both the PRD (the Democratic Revolutionary Party, plus the Liberal Party and the People's Party) and Alianza para el Cambio (Democratic Change, the Patriotic Union, the Panamanian Party and Molirena), propose the continuation of the current macro-economic direction of the country, giving continuity to many of the programs conducted by the government of Martín Torrijos.
The Economist’s Unit of Economic Intelligence revised its growth estimate which was at 3.4% for 2009 downward, fixing it at minus 1.4%.
The forecast for 2010 is a slight recovery of 1.4% over 2009. The report also predicts victory in the upcoming presidential elections for opposition candidate Ricardo Martinelli.
With regard to this report, the Ministry of Finance signaled that it had possibly "(not taken) into account the financial incentive program recently announced by President Martín Torrijos.”
The results of the elections could marginally change a lot of things but they cannot significantly alter the direction of the country.
The country of the Canal has been the Central American powerboat in the last few years. High figures in sustained economic growth has caught the attention of the world, and with the upcoming electoral campaign, international analysts see the reasons for the Panamanian bonanza "as a successful conjunction of politics, governmental decisions, and stability in regulations."
A conservative businessman of the Democratic Change (CD) party could become the next president of Panama.
According to a poll by Unimer published in La Prensa, 36.2 per cent of respondents would vote for Ricardo Martinelli in next year’s election, up 3.8 points since October.
Balbina Herrera of the governing Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) is second with 30.8 per cent, followed by Juan Carlos Varela of the Panameñista Party (PPA) with 15.1 per cent, and former president Guillermo Endara of the Moral Vanguard of the Homeland (VMP) with 3.5 per cent.
It's Tuesday morning, just five days before the all important PRD primary election in Panama. You can almost feel the temperature rising...
The most important race to be decided is between the former Housing Minister Balbina Herrera and the Mayor of Panama City Juan Carlos Navarro. Both are running for the Presidency of the Republic and the winner of the PRD primary election on Sunday will represent the party in the general national elections in May 2009. Interestingly enough, the political fever is keeping the opposition guys vibrating as well.
The decision of the Executive Branch to contract directly and without bids the construction of a 600 million dollar container terminal at Farfán has created distrust in Panama's business and political classes.
The move could be seen as a violation of the Fiscal Code. One politician, Guillermo Endara, president of the Vanguardia Moral de la Patria, called the move an administrative "atrocity" and said he would rescind the contract if he were elected in 2009.
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