I can recall, during my first few weeks in Panama, my Panamanian friend Charlie and I discussing random topics about the city over dinner. As a very “well endowed” young lady walked by the restaurant, catching attention from every man in a two block radius, I chuckled as Charlie nearly choked on his patacone. He looked at me in all seriousness and said “Honey, in Panama, nothing is real and everything is what it seems.” I laughed his comment off as I dug into my tamale; but I knew that the statement held more truth than anything I had seen or heard since arriving on this mystifying little isthmus.
As any country struggling to develop and define itself Panama has Read more
The long awaited opening of the Trump Ocean Club in Punta Paitilla is quickly approaching. The seventy-two floor building will hold around 370 guest rooms with forty-seven suites. The remainder of the building will hold condos that will set you back $300 thousand to over $1 million; as well as 3 restaurants, 3 bars, 2 pools, and a private beach resort. This massive $400 million project is truly and architectural masterpiece that has been incredibly interesting to watch form over recent years.
The hotel and casino was set to open doors in November of 2010; however, holdups from delays in shipped materials, weather and underestimated detail work have set the open date back until this coming July. In recent Read more
I’ve been drinking coffee since roughly the age of ten (mine and grandpa’s little secret) so when I first came to Panama many years later I was ecstatic to try some of the beans this place had to offer. Panamanian coffee has been severely underrated and overlooked in the past; however, in recent years many more coffee lovers, connoisseurs and distributors have heard the good word on the amazing coffee Panama has to offer. While you can find seriously select coffees life Café Geisha that can go for up to $125 a pound at specialty coffee auctions in Panama, they aren’t very practical for the everyday Joe. After trying nearly every brand of coffee that I could get my Read more
One of the questions I hear so often when talking about Panama is “What are property prices like in Panama?” If you crave the ocean air, warm beaches, tropical climate and are willing to live without many of the unnecessary conveniences that many of us have grown accustomed to, then oceanfront property in Panama may be a perfect place for you to think about buying property. A chunk of comparable beach front property in the states goes easily two or three times higher than in Panama.
For example: this beach front lot that I just found in Chiriqui Panama is priced around 66 thousand. In the states you may be looking at millions for a similar sized lot in Read more
When most of us think about moving abroad one of the last things we consider is where we’re going to stock our cabinets. So it was funny to me that on my first day in Panama City after enjoying my morning cup of coffee and taking in the views I got ready and headed to the grocery store. It’s that daunting task that we all hate to do even in our home countries.
On my first grocery excursion in Panama I hit up Riba Smith in Mall Multiplaza in Punta Pacifica. After all of my time spent in this country I still consider this store as The Good among grocers in Panama. Riba Smith boasts probably the cleanest (aside Read more
On a recent trip home to visit the states a few people asked me about what currency is used in Panama. The concept of Panamanian currency is simple yet a little confusing. The official currency in the Republic of Panama is actually the Balboa. But don’t start panicking yet. The Balboa and U.S. dollar are virtually the same thing and work equally in Panama. There are no Balboa paper notes as with the dollar (at least none that I have ever seen) and the coins or cents are known as “centavos”. If the price of something in Panama is listed with a B. before, such as B.25, then the price would be $25 U.S. dollars. Panamanian coinage is Read more
According to Latin Business Chronicles, Panama has passed Chile in technology implementation. Chile has always been touted as rather advanced in many areas such as health care and the privatization of social security etc., so it came as a surprise to me that Panama has eclipsed Chile in Technology, yet according to this LBC report, Panama is in second place in Latin America behind Uruguay. Of course it may be easier to do so in a small geographic area with a population of only 3.3 million.Panama and Uruguay replace Chile in technology and Internet penetration.
Experience the dawn of a new world landmark and be amazed at what London & Regional is creating here in Panama. “Panama Pacifico”‘s 1400 hectare mixed-use project is the largest land rehab to come along in 50 plus years! What was a strategically located U.S. air base near Panama City is now becoming an international business park, town center, residential communities, airport, resorts, golf courses and much more. All of this and special government tax incentives make this one of the worlds best opportunities.
I found this report to have some interesting and valuable information and it is free so take a look. The following press release is from their website.
Following up with last years release of the Offshore Banking report, www.alternativelatininvestor.com/offshore-banking.html, which, in the midst of the global banking crisis, gravitated towards Panama, Alternative Latin Investor has released an in-depth report of the of the country.
Through extensive interviews, site visits and research the report deals with the main sectors relevant to foreign investors, Real Estate, Commodities, Banking and General Business practices as well as an exclusive interview with Former Panamanian president Nicolás Ardito. With Panama Read more
According to the Venezuelan news site El Universal, investment in Panama by Venezuelan businessmen represent about 12% of the total new investment into Panama. We thank the leadership of Venezuela for driving these significant investment dollars into Panama. It is most unfortunate for the citizens of Venezuela that their countrymen find it much safer to invest here rather than their own country.
Economy
The Panamanian market has become one of the favorite destinations for Venezuelan investment. Nowadays, 12 percent of new businesses are the result of Venezuelan investments, as reported by Leandro Ciciliani, the CEO of International Property Networks (IPN).
