Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
CHEC Starts Construction on Panama City Cruise Terminal.
State-owned construction giant China Harbour Engineering Company and its consortium partner Jan de Nul have started construction on the Panama Amado Cruise Terminal, a new, $165 million facility on the Perico Island causeway in Panama City.
CHEC won the bid from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) on July 31, about a month and a half after Panama severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established ties with Beijing instead. Beijing refuses to recognize any nation that formally recognizes Taiwan, a core part of its “One China” policy.
Previous CHEC projects in Panama include the Port of Balboa Container Terminal Phase 3, awarded in 2002, and Evergreen’s Colon Container Terminal (CCT), awarded in 2013. The diplomatic timing was auspicious for another deal, and CHEC said that the bidding for the new terminal project was highly competitive, with interest from over 40 international firms.
Source: Maritime Executive
Sons of slain Panama Papers reporter call for PM to resign.
The sons of a prominent Maltese journalist have called on the island nation’s prime minister to step down — days after their mother was killed by a car bomb after leading the Panama Papers probe into corruption.
In a Facebook post Thursday, Matthew, Andrew and Paul Caruana Galizia said Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should take political responsibility for “failing to uphold our fundamental freedoms.”
Muscat, who has ruled out quitting, vowed to bring those responsible for killing a reporter he has described as his “greatest adversary” to justice — with the help of the FBI.
Source: New York Post
Panama to send immigration envoys to China as visa limits lifted.
Panama’s government will send an immigration and security delegation to China, the country’s president said on Tuesday, as part of the lifting of visa restrictions for Chinese visitors.
Chinese visitors to Panama will now need an electronic visa stamped in a consulate instead of a restricted visa obtained through a lawyer to visit the country, part of measures the government hopes will promote tourism and investment.
The security and migration delegation will travel to China for the opening of the Panamanian consulate, though there was no exact date yet, said President Juan Carlos Varela.
Source: Today Online (Singapore)
The Key to Investing in Panama: Diversify!
Have you been thinking about investing in Panama? Are you doing your due diligence right now to see if it’s right for you. If either of these are the case, you’ll have lots to consider before diving into the market, and many opportunities to weigh and consider. Panama has an incredibly diverse market, with investment potential in not just the services industry, but also in commodities, real estate, logistics, and even crypto-currencies.
Right now, the strongest industries in Panama continue to be in the services sector. Within this sector, there’s a lot of investment opportunity in financial services, hospitality, hospitality consulting, shipping/trade logistics, and construction management. All of these industries have room for nominal investments as part of larger groups, and all show steady growth availability for the foreseeable future. Even small consulting firms are in high demand in Panama. Panama’s services sector relies heavily on outside consulting, management, and education, which means foreign investment has a greater demand than supply.
Spreading out your investments in this sector between tourism, commercial construction, and financial management allows you be a part of industries that feed off each other, giving you multiple sources of returns that may or may not rely on your actual other investments. In other words, your secondary investment target can benefit from your first, and vice versa.
Source: International Relocation Firm Blog
