20 year property tax exemption extended
By Steven Rich - Panama Offshore Legal Services
April 15 was a good day for taxpayers in Panama - not for U.S. citizens who led their 2007 income tax returns by April 15 - but for the real property purchasers looking to buy without having to pay annual property taxes in Panama. Law 21, 2008 went into effect on April 15, extending the 20 year property tax exemptions on new construction for another two years. The exemption applies to both new residences and commercial properties.
The 20-year property tax exemption law expired on August 31, 2007, which left the construction industry in a bind. Developers of new residential and commercial properties were not able to offer this tax exemption to purchasers, making the slightly older buildings more attractive to buyers.
The tricky part is to comply with the strict time limits. The exoneration begins on either when the Occupancy Permit is issued or the day the improvements are registered by public deed with the Public Registry of?ce, whichever comes ?rst. This must be done by December 30, 2011. Since registration with the Public Registry takes around a week, plan to ?le the required documents at least one week before the deadline.
There are two deadlines. Obtain your building permit before July 1, 2009 and complete your home or project obtaining either your Occupancy Permit or ?le your improvements by Public Deed with the Public Registry by December 30, 2011.
Properties completed after the deadline or those which fail to meet both deadlines will have different property tax exemptions based on the property improvements value as follows:
Residential use construction valued up to $100,000 will qualify for a 15-year property tax exemption. From $100,000 to $250,000 quali?es for a 10-year exemption. Over $250,000 quali?es for a 5- year exemption.
Improvements and construction of “residential purpose” properties include apartments, condominiums, single-family homes, duplexes, and any other type of property providing means of living.
Do not wait if you plan to purchase raw land and build your own home. It takes time to locate real estate in Panama. It takes time waiting for the escrow process before you can take title to the property. Now that you are the titleholder, you must hire an architect to design the home. Then once the architect designs are prepared, you can apply for a building permit. You will need to get quotes from reputable builders and select the contractor. Construction takes time in Panama. With the current real estate boom, equipment, materials and good workmen are in demand. Finally, once the home is built you can apply for your occupancy permit. Some experts predict that the entire process can take up to 30 months.
Panama’s property tax exemption is not automatic. You must apply for the exemption or you will not be entitled to it. Building project developers apply for it on behalf of all of the units, so if you purchase a condo in a new building, you do not have to worry about it. However, if you build your own home you must apply for the exemption. Go to the Direccion General de Ingresos (DGI) of?ce to get the forms to apply for the 20-year property tax exemption. You must bring a copy of the escritura publica (public deed) along with a copy of your occupancy permit and a copy of the building permit.
Take advantage of Panama’s gift of 20-year property tax exemptions while it lasts!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
More Developers Choose Panama
Real Estate Is Going South — In This Case Straight To Panama
BY MARILYN ALVA
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 3/6/2008
A Florida developer is making hay while the Sunshine State wilts in cloudy weather.
Todd Gates has headed from Naples, Fla., to Panama, where real estate market conditions are presently much sunnier.
This sliver of a nation south of Costa Rica links Central America to South America. It has coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific and lush mountains in between. Here, Gates has found his idyll: a revenue base not tied to boom-and-bust Florida.
Panama is where he's now developing resorts, commercial buildings and residential areas worth $25 million to $500 million each.
"I spent two years visiting every Caribbean island and Central American country," Gates said. "Panama had exactly what I was looking for."
Gates liked that the service-based economy, growing nearly 9% a year, wasn't tourism-centric but diversified with banking, commerce and shipping. Panama is home to the world's second biggest free-trade zone. The $5.2 billion expansion of the Panama Canal should help keep the economy pumping.
Bustling Bargain
Many developers see Panama, population 3.2 million, as a growing business hub and house-hunting target of foreigners angling to live well for less money.
It has become popular among the growing ranks of Americans retiring and buying vacation homes south of the border. Panama's seen as more affordable than Costa Rica and an alternative to Mexico.
Attractions include the tropical climate, low-cost lifestyle, U.S.-style shopping, low crime and good health care. Floridians like that it's below the hurricane belt. Panama doesn't tax income earned elsewhere, and new home buyers don't pay property tax for 20 years.
Gates likes "cosmopolitan and sophisticated" Panama City. It seems like "Manhattan, Miami and Las Vegas all mixed in one," he said.
Projects under development by his real estate firm, Gates, include an island resort, a residential and mixed-use project on 2,250 acres outside Panama City, and two residential towers in the city.
While a depreciation drain is stressing U.S. homeowners, homes continue to appreciate in Panama. Prices have risen 15% to 25% or more in the last couple years in popular spots, but vs. U.S. equivalents they still look like relative bargains.
Affordable homes exist on coasts and in mountain towns such as Boquete. The average price of a new 3-bedroom 2,500-square-foot home in one small gated community is $177,000.
Irish native Tom Byrne, co-founder of First Panama Investment Corp., which is developing the community, says he and his brother looked first at Florida and Costa Rica, then settled on Panama.
"Basically we missed the boat for Florida," he said.
But some observers worry about a Miami-style housing bubble. With cranes lining the skyscape, Panama City looks like Miami in its mid-decade boom, when speculators flipped apartments not yet built and pocketed profits before the bust.
A study sees about 11,000 new apartment units entering the Panama City market from 2007 to 2010.
"Panama is in hyper-growth," said Casey Halloran, co-owner of Panama Real Estate Pros, in an e-mail.
He bought a condo in Panama City two years ago for $93,000 and sold it 15 months later for $170,000.
Before the U.S. slump, Americans were "buying four to six at a time," said Matt Landau, president of online portal the Panama Report. "A similar unit that cost $1 million in Miami would cost $250,000 here."
Atop the luxury market is the 65-story Trump Ocean Club, still under construction. Units run from $400,000 to the multimillions.
The building boom has made labor and building materials scarce. As credit has tightened, at least a few ambitious projects have stalled, been cut back in size or cancelled. But tighter credit terms are weeding out speculators, which is considered a good thing. Bank loans now typically require 30% down.
Skyline Reshaping
Dozens of bayfront and business district high-rises in Panama City are moving toward completion. Furnished executive apartments in the 100-unit Denovo, with its brushed aluminium exterior, sold out in December, Byrne says. Prices for spacious one- and two-bedroom units ranged from $285,000 to $330,000.
Baby boomers and retirees aren't the only demographics attracted to Panama. Panama City's vibrant social scene lures young people. Some call it "the next South Beach."
"Panama City is a cool place," said Landau, who is restoring a hotel in the city's gentrifying Old Town. "My generation, the 25 to 35-year olds, are just getting enough money to pick up a beautiful oceanfront unit for less than elsewhere."
The U.S. housing downturn has thinned ranks of American buyers, who still lead the foreign influx. Canadians, Europeans and South Americans — especially Venezuelans looking to invest outside president Hugo Chavez's grip — pour in.
Since the U.S. deposed military strongman Manuel Noriega in 1989, Panama's been a peaceful country. Tensions among Panama's southern neighbors are high now, after Colombian commandoes killed leftist rebels in Ecuador allegedly linked to Chavez. But a treacherous swamp separates Panama from South America. One hundred miles long and 30 miles wide, the Darien Gap leaves a chunk missing in the Pan-American Highway.
Americans are no strangers to Panama. They've lived there in relatively large numbers since the U.S. built the Panama Canal in the early 20th Century. Many stayed after the U.S. ceded the Canal to Panama in 1999. An estimated 30,000 Americans live in Panama full-time.
BY MARILYN ALVA
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 3/6/2008
A Florida developer is making hay while the Sunshine State wilts in cloudy weather.
Todd Gates has headed from Naples, Fla., to Panama, where real estate market conditions are presently much sunnier.
This sliver of a nation south of Costa Rica links Central America to South America. It has coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific and lush mountains in between. Here, Gates has found his idyll: a revenue base not tied to boom-and-bust Florida.
Panama is where he's now developing resorts, commercial buildings and residential areas worth $25 million to $500 million each.
"I spent two years visiting every Caribbean island and Central American country," Gates said. "Panama had exactly what I was looking for."
Gates liked that the service-based economy, growing nearly 9% a year, wasn't tourism-centric but diversified with banking, commerce and shipping. Panama is home to the world's second biggest free-trade zone. The $5.2 billion expansion of the Panama Canal should help keep the economy pumping.
Bustling Bargain
Many developers see Panama, population 3.2 million, as a growing business hub and house-hunting target of foreigners angling to live well for less money.
It has become popular among the growing ranks of Americans retiring and buying vacation homes south of the border. Panama's seen as more affordable than Costa Rica and an alternative to Mexico.
Attractions include the tropical climate, low-cost lifestyle, U.S.-style shopping, low crime and good health care. Floridians like that it's below the hurricane belt. Panama doesn't tax income earned elsewhere, and new home buyers don't pay property tax for 20 years.
Gates likes "cosmopolitan and sophisticated" Panama City. It seems like "Manhattan, Miami and Las Vegas all mixed in one," he said.
Projects under development by his real estate firm, Gates, include an island resort, a residential and mixed-use project on 2,250 acres outside Panama City, and two residential towers in the city.
While a depreciation drain is stressing U.S. homeowners, homes continue to appreciate in Panama. Prices have risen 15% to 25% or more in the last couple years in popular spots, but vs. U.S. equivalents they still look like relative bargains.
Affordable homes exist on coasts and in mountain towns such as Boquete. The average price of a new 3-bedroom 2,500-square-foot home in one small gated community is $177,000.
Irish native Tom Byrne, co-founder of First Panama Investment Corp., which is developing the community, says he and his brother looked first at Florida and Costa Rica, then settled on Panama.
"Basically we missed the boat for Florida," he said.
But some observers worry about a Miami-style housing bubble. With cranes lining the skyscape, Panama City looks like Miami in its mid-decade boom, when speculators flipped apartments not yet built and pocketed profits before the bust.
A study sees about 11,000 new apartment units entering the Panama City market from 2007 to 2010.
"Panama is in hyper-growth," said Casey Halloran, co-owner of Panama Real Estate Pros, in an e-mail.
He bought a condo in Panama City two years ago for $93,000 and sold it 15 months later for $170,000.
Before the U.S. slump, Americans were "buying four to six at a time," said Matt Landau, president of online portal the Panama Report. "A similar unit that cost $1 million in Miami would cost $250,000 here."
Atop the luxury market is the 65-story Trump Ocean Club, still under construction. Units run from $400,000 to the multimillions.
The building boom has made labor and building materials scarce. As credit has tightened, at least a few ambitious projects have stalled, been cut back in size or cancelled. But tighter credit terms are weeding out speculators, which is considered a good thing. Bank loans now typically require 30% down.
Skyline Reshaping
Dozens of bayfront and business district high-rises in Panama City are moving toward completion. Furnished executive apartments in the 100-unit Denovo, with its brushed aluminium exterior, sold out in December, Byrne says. Prices for spacious one- and two-bedroom units ranged from $285,000 to $330,000.
Baby boomers and retirees aren't the only demographics attracted to Panama. Panama City's vibrant social scene lures young people. Some call it "the next South Beach."
"Panama City is a cool place," said Landau, who is restoring a hotel in the city's gentrifying Old Town. "My generation, the 25 to 35-year olds, are just getting enough money to pick up a beautiful oceanfront unit for less than elsewhere."
The U.S. housing downturn has thinned ranks of American buyers, who still lead the foreign influx. Canadians, Europeans and South Americans — especially Venezuelans looking to invest outside president Hugo Chavez's grip — pour in.
Since the U.S. deposed military strongman Manuel Noriega in 1989, Panama's been a peaceful country. Tensions among Panama's southern neighbors are high now, after Colombian commandoes killed leftist rebels in Ecuador allegedly linked to Chavez. But a treacherous swamp separates Panama from South America. One hundred miles long and 30 miles wide, the Darien Gap leaves a chunk missing in the Pan-American Highway.
Americans are no strangers to Panama. They've lived there in relatively large numbers since the U.S. built the Panama Canal in the early 20th Century. Many stayed after the U.S. ceded the Canal to Panama in 1999. An estimated 30,000 Americans live in Panama full-time.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Developers press ahead in Panama City
By Kevin Brass
Published: January 31, 2008
PANAMA CITY, Panama: Showing a guest around his renovated apartment in Casco Viejo, this city's old district, the film director Luis Palomo shook his head over the sea of residential towers being built across Panama Bay.
"Are there really that many people who want to live here?" he asked.
It is a common question in Panama City these days. More than 35 towers, each of 20 stories or more, are under construction. Another 350 are in the planning stages, representing more than 40,000 units, according to local government estimates.
Fears that the market may be overheating were stoked last year by the abrupt cancellation of three of the largest announced projects, including the 104-story Ice Tower, which was to be the tallest development in the city.
"Right now, I believe the majority of the market is speculation," said Sam Taliaferro, a developer and consultant who writes the widely read Panama Investor Blog.
To José Manuel Bern of Empresas Bern, a local developer, the cancellations were a necessary "sobering up" for the market.
"We weren't ready for that," Bern said. "There is a ceiling for everybody. We're not Miami."
But some promoters are already calling Panama City the "Miami of Central America." Developers see Panama as a stable country, with an economy growing at a steady rate of 8 to 10 percent a year. Most Panamanians speak at least a little English and the U.S. dollar is the accepted currency.
"Panama is one of the safest countries in the world," said Julio Fernando Noval García, president of Spanish developer Grupo Mall, which is building Los Faros de Panama, a three-tower, mixed-use residential complex in the heart of the city.
Grupo Mall is not alone. Foreign investment in Panama grew almost 20 percent in the first six months of 2007, compared with the same period in 2006, according to government statistics. Construction activity increased by 17 percent, the data shows.
Developers are hoping a $5.25 billion plan moving forward to expand the Panama Canal will generate new buyers for the city's residential market. In addition, corporations like the computer maker Hewlett Packard and the construction equipment giant Caterpillar are moving their regional headquarters to the city.
Panama City also is increasingly popular with second-home buyers and retirees, like Frank and Maria Harrison of Chicago. Two years ago they abandoned plans to retire in Florida and bought a 4,500-square-foot, or 420-square-meter, condominium on the 11th floor of a waterfront tower.
"We really like city life," Frank Harrison said, adding that Panama's hurricane-free weather was another key factor in their decision.
But North Americans are only part of the equation. Venezuelans make up 60 percent of Empresas Bern's customers for residential towers in Costa del Este, a master-planned development being built on 300 hectares, or 740 acres, a few minutes outside the city center, Bern says.
Despite the much discussed concerns about overbuilding, the Panama-based developer Grupo Corcione is moving ahead with five tower projects in the city, including Ocean Sky, a 45-story tower with 106 units priced at $268,000 and $750,000.
Construction began in January 2007 and is expected to be completed by March 2009.
"We don't see a slowdown," said Ben Robinson, a consultant to Grupo Corcione. "There will always be speculators, but the long term prospects are very good."
In November, Newland International Properties sold $220 million in bonds to finance construction of the Trump Ocean Club, one of the most closely watched projects in the city. Scheduled for completion in 2010, the 69-story project, which is licensing the Trump name, will include more than 600 luxury residential condominiums priced from $500,000 to $12 million.
The Trump project is widely credited with boosting prices around the city. In the last two years, the average price for tower apartments has jumped from about $1,500 a square meter to $3,000 a square meter, or about $140 a square foot to $280 a square foot, in some projects, local experts say.
"It was as if the Donald Trump project lit dynamite under prices," said Paul McBride, chief executive of Prima Panama, Taliaferro's company.
Along with prices, complaints against developers have soared. More than 150 charges have been filed with the local consumer protection agency, according to Bill Schroff, a local consultant who runs a company called Panama Referral.
Two years ago, Schroff bought a tower apartment in the preconstruction phase, putting a 20 percent deposit on a unit priced at $157,000. Now that prices have soared, the developers are trying to get out of the contract.
"That happens a lot," Schroff said. The developer offered him $220,000 but he declined; similar units are now selling for $280,000.
In response to complaints, the government last year passed a law requiring developers to have at least preliminary approvals for a project before they start soliciting buyers.
The government is also moving to address the city's constantly snarled traffic and the pollution spoiling Panama Bay. New construction will add roads and an embarcadero to the waterfront, and a seven-year, $300 million project is under way to treat sewage flowing into the bay.
Meanwhile, despite bullish comments from developers, local market observers say they are already noticing signs of a slowdown in the market.
"We're not seeing the announcements of new projects as fast" as in early 2007, Schroff said. "That's a good thing."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/30/properties/repan.php?page=1
Published: January 31, 2008
PANAMA CITY, Panama: Showing a guest around his renovated apartment in Casco Viejo, this city's old district, the film director Luis Palomo shook his head over the sea of residential towers being built across Panama Bay.
"Are there really that many people who want to live here?" he asked.
It is a common question in Panama City these days. More than 35 towers, each of 20 stories or more, are under construction. Another 350 are in the planning stages, representing more than 40,000 units, according to local government estimates.
Fears that the market may be overheating were stoked last year by the abrupt cancellation of three of the largest announced projects, including the 104-story Ice Tower, which was to be the tallest development in the city.
"Right now, I believe the majority of the market is speculation," said Sam Taliaferro, a developer and consultant who writes the widely read Panama Investor Blog.
To José Manuel Bern of Empresas Bern, a local developer, the cancellations were a necessary "sobering up" for the market.
"We weren't ready for that," Bern said. "There is a ceiling for everybody. We're not Miami."
But some promoters are already calling Panama City the "Miami of Central America." Developers see Panama as a stable country, with an economy growing at a steady rate of 8 to 10 percent a year. Most Panamanians speak at least a little English and the U.S. dollar is the accepted currency.
"Panama is one of the safest countries in the world," said Julio Fernando Noval García, president of Spanish developer Grupo Mall, which is building Los Faros de Panama, a three-tower, mixed-use residential complex in the heart of the city.
Grupo Mall is not alone. Foreign investment in Panama grew almost 20 percent in the first six months of 2007, compared with the same period in 2006, according to government statistics. Construction activity increased by 17 percent, the data shows.
Developers are hoping a $5.25 billion plan moving forward to expand the Panama Canal will generate new buyers for the city's residential market. In addition, corporations like the computer maker Hewlett Packard and the construction equipment giant Caterpillar are moving their regional headquarters to the city.
Panama City also is increasingly popular with second-home buyers and retirees, like Frank and Maria Harrison of Chicago. Two years ago they abandoned plans to retire in Florida and bought a 4,500-square-foot, or 420-square-meter, condominium on the 11th floor of a waterfront tower.
"We really like city life," Frank Harrison said, adding that Panama's hurricane-free weather was another key factor in their decision.
But North Americans are only part of the equation. Venezuelans make up 60 percent of Empresas Bern's customers for residential towers in Costa del Este, a master-planned development being built on 300 hectares, or 740 acres, a few minutes outside the city center, Bern says.
Despite the much discussed concerns about overbuilding, the Panama-based developer Grupo Corcione is moving ahead with five tower projects in the city, including Ocean Sky, a 45-story tower with 106 units priced at $268,000 and $750,000.
Construction began in January 2007 and is expected to be completed by March 2009.
"We don't see a slowdown," said Ben Robinson, a consultant to Grupo Corcione. "There will always be speculators, but the long term prospects are very good."
In November, Newland International Properties sold $220 million in bonds to finance construction of the Trump Ocean Club, one of the most closely watched projects in the city. Scheduled for completion in 2010, the 69-story project, which is licensing the Trump name, will include more than 600 luxury residential condominiums priced from $500,000 to $12 million.
The Trump project is widely credited with boosting prices around the city. In the last two years, the average price for tower apartments has jumped from about $1,500 a square meter to $3,000 a square meter, or about $140 a square foot to $280 a square foot, in some projects, local experts say.
"It was as if the Donald Trump project lit dynamite under prices," said Paul McBride, chief executive of Prima Panama, Taliaferro's company.
Along with prices, complaints against developers have soared. More than 150 charges have been filed with the local consumer protection agency, according to Bill Schroff, a local consultant who runs a company called Panama Referral.
Two years ago, Schroff bought a tower apartment in the preconstruction phase, putting a 20 percent deposit on a unit priced at $157,000. Now that prices have soared, the developers are trying to get out of the contract.
"That happens a lot," Schroff said. The developer offered him $220,000 but he declined; similar units are now selling for $280,000.
In response to complaints, the government last year passed a law requiring developers to have at least preliminary approvals for a project before they start soliciting buyers.
The government is also moving to address the city's constantly snarled traffic and the pollution spoiling Panama Bay. New construction will add roads and an embarcadero to the waterfront, and a seven-year, $300 million project is under way to treat sewage flowing into the bay.
Meanwhile, despite bullish comments from developers, local market observers say they are already noticing signs of a slowdown in the market.
"We're not seeing the announcements of new projects as fast" as in early 2007, Schroff said. "That's a good thing."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/30/properties/repan.php?page=1
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
U.S. State Dept. Confirms 90 Day Panama Visas
For six months or more there has been a lot of justified confusion, even anger, over a drastic change in the length of time for visas allowed for foreigners visiting the Republic of Panama. And that confusion continues even now (see below) -- but at last there seems to be some official clarification, at least from the U.S. government
Until last summer a foreigner's visa allowed 90 days in Panama. Abruptly, for reasons never fully explained, the Panamanian government's Law 15 dropped it to only 30 days. That produced major criticism from Panamanian real estate and tourism promoters, as well as annoyance for visiting Americans and other nationalities, especially "snow birds" who spend the winter in Panama.
When International Living dropped Panama from first to fourth in its annual list of "Best Places to Live," a demotion that got a lot of media coverage, the visa change was cited as one of the reasons.
Now the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Panama has issued an official "Consular Information Sheet" setting out the official requirements for visas to visit Panama. It confirms that the Panamanian government now issues visas for a full 90 days. In fact, for several weeks now Immigration Officials at Tocumen Airport near Panama City and at the Costa Rican border entry point on the InterAmerican Highway have been issuing 90 days visas for arriving American passport holders.
The U.S. Embassy statement says that as of November, 2007, tourists are being given visas to stay in Panama for a full 90 days. If persons want to stay longer, an extension for up to 60 days (for a total of 150 days in country) from the Panamanian Migration Office is required, at that office's discretion. Panamanian law requires that travelers must either purchase a tourist card (visa) from the airline serving Panama or purchase one upon arrival at Tocumen Airport or other ports of entry, and these are good for 90 days.
Law or No Law!
This, in spite of the fact that Article 6 of Panama's Law 15 states that the tourist visa is valid for only 30 days. Panama officials are openly admitting that, despite what Law 15 says, they are giving all U.S. tourists 90 days, (but Canadians still get just 30 days, though Immigration officials are unable to explain why). Some officials say they have been given "verbal orders" to allow 90 days. But that informality in applying laws, sadly, is all too typical of Panama.
Based on American laws, U.S. citizens traveling by air to and from Panama must present a valid U.S. passport when entering or re-entering the United States. (Before the 9-11 terror attacks, Americans needed only a valid U.S. state drivers license or other picture ID to visit Panama). Sea travelers also must have a valid U.S. passport (or other original proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a certified U.S. birth certificate with a government-issued photo ID) to enter or re-enter the U.S.
Embassy Out of the Loop
Usually I would recommend that a visa can be obtained from the Panamanian embassy or its consulates before traveling to Panama. But as of today (Jan. 28, 2008), employees of the Embassy of Panama in Washington, D.C. were still telling callers that 90 day visas are not issued -- that only 30 days visas are available. In my personal experience this is not be the first time that Panamanian government agencies did not know what each other are doing.
More worrying is the fact that Panama's National Assembly gave President Martin Torrijos extraordinary powers to decree new laws affecting banking, immigration, customs, and tourism. He must make these changes by March 1st and it was expected that Torrijos would modify Law 15.
But today we learned that President Torrijos has decided against issuing a decree of immigration law reform, instead passing it back to the National Assembly for consideration as a usual legislative proposal. The reason given in La Prensa was that the draft law changes were so extensive that it was deemed better to allow the full National Assembly to consider it. Until final official action is taken it is reasonable to conclude that a lot questions will remain unanswered.
Until last summer a foreigner's visa allowed 90 days in Panama. Abruptly, for reasons never fully explained, the Panamanian government's Law 15 dropped it to only 30 days. That produced major criticism from Panamanian real estate and tourism promoters, as well as annoyance for visiting Americans and other nationalities, especially "snow birds" who spend the winter in Panama.
When International Living dropped Panama from first to fourth in its annual list of "Best Places to Live," a demotion that got a lot of media coverage, the visa change was cited as one of the reasons.
Now the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Panama has issued an official "Consular Information Sheet" setting out the official requirements for visas to visit Panama. It confirms that the Panamanian government now issues visas for a full 90 days. In fact, for several weeks now Immigration Officials at Tocumen Airport near Panama City and at the Costa Rican border entry point on the InterAmerican Highway have been issuing 90 days visas for arriving American passport holders.
The U.S. Embassy statement says that as of November, 2007, tourists are being given visas to stay in Panama for a full 90 days. If persons want to stay longer, an extension for up to 60 days (for a total of 150 days in country) from the Panamanian Migration Office is required, at that office's discretion. Panamanian law requires that travelers must either purchase a tourist card (visa) from the airline serving Panama or purchase one upon arrival at Tocumen Airport or other ports of entry, and these are good for 90 days.
Law or No Law!
This, in spite of the fact that Article 6 of Panama's Law 15 states that the tourist visa is valid for only 30 days. Panama officials are openly admitting that, despite what Law 15 says, they are giving all U.S. tourists 90 days, (but Canadians still get just 30 days, though Immigration officials are unable to explain why). Some officials say they have been given "verbal orders" to allow 90 days. But that informality in applying laws, sadly, is all too typical of Panama.
Based on American laws, U.S. citizens traveling by air to and from Panama must present a valid U.S. passport when entering or re-entering the United States. (Before the 9-11 terror attacks, Americans needed only a valid U.S. state drivers license or other picture ID to visit Panama). Sea travelers also must have a valid U.S. passport (or other original proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a certified U.S. birth certificate with a government-issued photo ID) to enter or re-enter the U.S.
Embassy Out of the Loop
Usually I would recommend that a visa can be obtained from the Panamanian embassy or its consulates before traveling to Panama. But as of today (Jan. 28, 2008), employees of the Embassy of Panama in Washington, D.C. were still telling callers that 90 day visas are not issued -- that only 30 days visas are available. In my personal experience this is not be the first time that Panamanian government agencies did not know what each other are doing.
More worrying is the fact that Panama's National Assembly gave President Martin Torrijos extraordinary powers to decree new laws affecting banking, immigration, customs, and tourism. He must make these changes by March 1st and it was expected that Torrijos would modify Law 15.
But today we learned that President Torrijos has decided against issuing a decree of immigration law reform, instead passing it back to the National Assembly for consideration as a usual legislative proposal. The reason given in La Prensa was that the draft law changes were so extensive that it was deemed better to allow the full National Assembly to consider it. Until final official action is taken it is reasonable to conclude that a lot questions will remain unanswered.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Brazil's now a hot commodity
From aviation to agriculture, it's an economy on the upswing
By Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 31, 2007
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, BRAZIL -- For years, the joke in this country was that Brazil's economy was the economy of the future. The morose punch line, of course, was that the future never arrives.
But finally, it seems, the future is now.
Just peek into Embraer's Hangar F220 in this city north of the capital, Brasilia, where this month the highflying commercial aircraft maker was putting finishing touches on a dozen gleaming planes being readied for delivery to airlines around the world, including Northwest, Air Canada, Tame of Ecuador and Virgin Australia.
Or visit the Odebrecht construction company, in Salvador in Brazil's northeast. It is managing billions of dollars worth of international public works projects, including its second $1-billion bridge over Venezuela's Orinoco River and a piece of the Panama Canal expansion.
Then there's Petrobras, the quasi-state oil company, whose engineers have launched deep-water drilling projects in places as far afield as Angola and close to home as Colombia and the Gulf of Mexico. Petrobras announced last month that it had discovered what may be the world's largest oil find in 25 years, in Brazil's offshore Tupi field. If that pans out, Tupi could propel Brazil into the ranks of significant oil exporters.
After several boom-and-bust cycles in recent decades, Brazil is in the midst of its best sustained economic growth since the 1970s. Optimism is high that the country may have turned the corner on the road to stability. And the emergence of companies like Embraer, Odebrecht and Petrobras on the world stage is one major factor in Brazil's improved fiscal health.
"The Brazilian economy is probably at its best moment in 25 years," said Paulo Levy, economist at a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank known by its Portuguese initials IPEA, citing four years of good economic growth.
Exports of manufactured goods and services have given Brazil's economy balance and helped foreign reserves climb to $167 billion, double the figure of September 2006. The country has paid down its debt, lowered interest rates and kept a lid on spending. Economic growth will come in at 5.3% this year, lower than the hemisphere's 5.7%, but quite a feat for a country that over the previous 10 years averaged only 2.5% annual expansion.
Foreign investors have taken notice, evidenced by the 44% increase in the Bovespa stock index this year, the fifth year of growth. That's a bigger percentage gain than in Russia, Chile or South Korea, even though Brazil's GDP growth this year will fall short of those countries. Brazilian companies have done a record 100 initial public stock offerings in 2007, five times the number of last year, with 70% of the money raised supplied by foreigners.
"That's good for Brazilian companies because it's a cheaper source of financing," said Reginaldo Takara, senior director in the Sao Paulo office of the Standard & Poor's credit rating agency. "Now they have partners instead of creditors."
Investors' improved perceptions of Brazil are also evident in the $30 billion that foreigners have plowed directly into Brazilian companies this year, a 60% increase over last year. The flood of foreign cash has helped spur the currency, the real, to double in value against the dollar in four years.
Also giving Brazil an enormous boost is the jump in commodity prices in recent years. The country is the world's leading exporter of chicken, coffee, sugar, soy, beef and orange juice.
Much of the foreign money now flowing into Brazil is coming from investors who expect the country's debt to receive an investment-grade rating from major firms such as Standard & Poor's over the next couple of years, said Gustavo Franco, a former head of Brazil's central bank and now an executive with Rio Bravo Financial Services in Sao Paulo, the country's financial center.
"If the experiences of Russia, Chile and Mexico are an indication, a ratings upgrade will produce a boost in equity prices, stock [price-to-earnings] multiples and earnings," Franco said. "That's what investors are anticipating."
Some institutional investors, such as pension funds, can only invest in countries with top debt ratings, Franco noted. If Brazil is able to secure that, it will drive demand and raise prices, he predicted.
About a quarter of Brazilian stock offerings this year have been launched by real estate investment companies targeting a housing deficit estimated at 7.5 million units by ABN Amro economist Zeina Latif in Sao Paulo. She expects a short-term boom in housing construction, fueled by long-term fixed-rate mortgage credit, which was not available in Brazil until recently.
The red-hot quality of Brazilian markets is all the more stunning considering the situation just five years ago. In 2002, leftist Workers Party leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the presidency by campaigning on promises to renationalize utilities that had been sold to the private sector. Investors fled, and stocks and the currency plummeted.
In something of a surprise, though, Lula has stuck with the fiscal reforms implemented by his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. That, plus his "discipline" in limiting federal spending, Franco said, are big factors behind the current economic boom.
"Lula is a converted neoliberal," Franco said.
At the same time, welfare programs for the poor and elderly that give monthly handouts to one-third of the population have reduced the extreme polarization of wage distribution and helped turbocharge consumer spending, now growing at 15% a year, said Ana Carla Costa, an economist at Sao Paulo-based Tendencias consultants.
Wages are up and unemployment is down. Another encouraging sign for investors has been the rapid expansion of credit and banking activity. The number of bank accounts has grown 50% since 2001, while bank deposits and credit cards have doubled, said Nicola Tingas, the chief economist of the Brazilian Federation of Banks.
The value of outstanding loans is growing 20% annually. Analysts attribute the expansion to tougher bankruptcy laws passed two years ago that allow lenders to tap into borrowers' wages for repayment.
Of course, Brazil still faces serious challenges that could take the wind out of its economic sails. Lula has invested little in infrastructure, and Sao Paulo economist Roberto Troster said that was causing the nation to slip in world competitiveness.
Roads and ports are overloaded. Electricity demand is growing so fast -- 6% annually nationwide -- that power may be rationed as soon as next year if there is a cutoff of gas from Bolivia, which supplies half of Brazil's needs, or inadequate rainfall reduces hydropower output, said Adriano Pires, who heads a Rio think tank that studies infrastructure.
Taxes are 36% of gross national product, among the highest in the world, and bank federation economist Tingas said Brazilians receive little for what they pay. "You pay twice as much and you get nothing in return," he said.
A deep U.S. or global economic downturn would be damaging to Brazil's economy. For one thing, it would damp demand for its commodities, which account for 53% of its exports. Economist Troster said it was too early to declare that Brazil's economy had diversified enough and fundamentally changed. "We're not turning a corner, we're repeating a cycle," he said
At Embraer, management is less concerned about macroeconomics than maintaining a competitive edge and seeking out new market niches in an environment made more difficult by Brazil's appreciating currency.
It admits to growing pains such as difficulty finding qualified technical staff.
Booming demand for its 70- and 100-seat jets spurred the company to add a staggering 6,000 employees to its workforce this year. The company used to import foreign engineers to fill slots. Now it trains up to 100 engineers a year at its own master's-level, on-site engineering school.
After exploiting the mid-sized jetliner market over the last decade, the company believes it has found another niche in executive jets. Next year will roll out three private luxury models targeting the United States as well as booming emerging markets, such as Russia and the Middle East.
Such worries weren't even on Embraer's radar screen 15 years ago, when the company was primarily making propeller planes for the domestic market. Now, Embraer says it expects to soon become the third-largest commercial jet maker after Boeing and Airbus, passing Canada's Bombardier.
"Brazilian companies are starting to become global players," said Horacio Forjaz, the company's vice president. "We're in a virtuous cycle."
By Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 31, 2007
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, BRAZIL -- For years, the joke in this country was that Brazil's economy was the economy of the future. The morose punch line, of course, was that the future never arrives.
But finally, it seems, the future is now.
Just peek into Embraer's Hangar F220 in this city north of the capital, Brasilia, where this month the highflying commercial aircraft maker was putting finishing touches on a dozen gleaming planes being readied for delivery to airlines around the world, including Northwest, Air Canada, Tame of Ecuador and Virgin Australia.
Or visit the Odebrecht construction company, in Salvador in Brazil's northeast. It is managing billions of dollars worth of international public works projects, including its second $1-billion bridge over Venezuela's Orinoco River and a piece of the Panama Canal expansion.
Then there's Petrobras, the quasi-state oil company, whose engineers have launched deep-water drilling projects in places as far afield as Angola and close to home as Colombia and the Gulf of Mexico. Petrobras announced last month that it had discovered what may be the world's largest oil find in 25 years, in Brazil's offshore Tupi field. If that pans out, Tupi could propel Brazil into the ranks of significant oil exporters.
After several boom-and-bust cycles in recent decades, Brazil is in the midst of its best sustained economic growth since the 1970s. Optimism is high that the country may have turned the corner on the road to stability. And the emergence of companies like Embraer, Odebrecht and Petrobras on the world stage is one major factor in Brazil's improved fiscal health.
"The Brazilian economy is probably at its best moment in 25 years," said Paulo Levy, economist at a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank known by its Portuguese initials IPEA, citing four years of good economic growth.
Exports of manufactured goods and services have given Brazil's economy balance and helped foreign reserves climb to $167 billion, double the figure of September 2006. The country has paid down its debt, lowered interest rates and kept a lid on spending. Economic growth will come in at 5.3% this year, lower than the hemisphere's 5.7%, but quite a feat for a country that over the previous 10 years averaged only 2.5% annual expansion.
Foreign investors have taken notice, evidenced by the 44% increase in the Bovespa stock index this year, the fifth year of growth. That's a bigger percentage gain than in Russia, Chile or South Korea, even though Brazil's GDP growth this year will fall short of those countries. Brazilian companies have done a record 100 initial public stock offerings in 2007, five times the number of last year, with 70% of the money raised supplied by foreigners.
"That's good for Brazilian companies because it's a cheaper source of financing," said Reginaldo Takara, senior director in the Sao Paulo office of the Standard & Poor's credit rating agency. "Now they have partners instead of creditors."
Investors' improved perceptions of Brazil are also evident in the $30 billion that foreigners have plowed directly into Brazilian companies this year, a 60% increase over last year. The flood of foreign cash has helped spur the currency, the real, to double in value against the dollar in four years.
Also giving Brazil an enormous boost is the jump in commodity prices in recent years. The country is the world's leading exporter of chicken, coffee, sugar, soy, beef and orange juice.
Much of the foreign money now flowing into Brazil is coming from investors who expect the country's debt to receive an investment-grade rating from major firms such as Standard & Poor's over the next couple of years, said Gustavo Franco, a former head of Brazil's central bank and now an executive with Rio Bravo Financial Services in Sao Paulo, the country's financial center.
"If the experiences of Russia, Chile and Mexico are an indication, a ratings upgrade will produce a boost in equity prices, stock [price-to-earnings] multiples and earnings," Franco said. "That's what investors are anticipating."
Some institutional investors, such as pension funds, can only invest in countries with top debt ratings, Franco noted. If Brazil is able to secure that, it will drive demand and raise prices, he predicted.
About a quarter of Brazilian stock offerings this year have been launched by real estate investment companies targeting a housing deficit estimated at 7.5 million units by ABN Amro economist Zeina Latif in Sao Paulo. She expects a short-term boom in housing construction, fueled by long-term fixed-rate mortgage credit, which was not available in Brazil until recently.
The red-hot quality of Brazilian markets is all the more stunning considering the situation just five years ago. In 2002, leftist Workers Party leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the presidency by campaigning on promises to renationalize utilities that had been sold to the private sector. Investors fled, and stocks and the currency plummeted.
In something of a surprise, though, Lula has stuck with the fiscal reforms implemented by his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. That, plus his "discipline" in limiting federal spending, Franco said, are big factors behind the current economic boom.
"Lula is a converted neoliberal," Franco said.
At the same time, welfare programs for the poor and elderly that give monthly handouts to one-third of the population have reduced the extreme polarization of wage distribution and helped turbocharge consumer spending, now growing at 15% a year, said Ana Carla Costa, an economist at Sao Paulo-based Tendencias consultants.
Wages are up and unemployment is down. Another encouraging sign for investors has been the rapid expansion of credit and banking activity. The number of bank accounts has grown 50% since 2001, while bank deposits and credit cards have doubled, said Nicola Tingas, the chief economist of the Brazilian Federation of Banks.
The value of outstanding loans is growing 20% annually. Analysts attribute the expansion to tougher bankruptcy laws passed two years ago that allow lenders to tap into borrowers' wages for repayment.
Of course, Brazil still faces serious challenges that could take the wind out of its economic sails. Lula has invested little in infrastructure, and Sao Paulo economist Roberto Troster said that was causing the nation to slip in world competitiveness.
Roads and ports are overloaded. Electricity demand is growing so fast -- 6% annually nationwide -- that power may be rationed as soon as next year if there is a cutoff of gas from Bolivia, which supplies half of Brazil's needs, or inadequate rainfall reduces hydropower output, said Adriano Pires, who heads a Rio think tank that studies infrastructure.
Taxes are 36% of gross national product, among the highest in the world, and bank federation economist Tingas said Brazilians receive little for what they pay. "You pay twice as much and you get nothing in return," he said.
A deep U.S. or global economic downturn would be damaging to Brazil's economy. For one thing, it would damp demand for its commodities, which account for 53% of its exports. Economist Troster said it was too early to declare that Brazil's economy had diversified enough and fundamentally changed. "We're not turning a corner, we're repeating a cycle," he said
At Embraer, management is less concerned about macroeconomics than maintaining a competitive edge and seeking out new market niches in an environment made more difficult by Brazil's appreciating currency.
It admits to growing pains such as difficulty finding qualified technical staff.
Booming demand for its 70- and 100-seat jets spurred the company to add a staggering 6,000 employees to its workforce this year. The company used to import foreign engineers to fill slots. Now it trains up to 100 engineers a year at its own master's-level, on-site engineering school.
After exploiting the mid-sized jetliner market over the last decade, the company believes it has found another niche in executive jets. Next year will roll out three private luxury models targeting the United States as well as booming emerging markets, such as Russia and the Middle East.
Such worries weren't even on Embraer's radar screen 15 years ago, when the company was primarily making propeller planes for the domestic market. Now, Embraer says it expects to soon become the third-largest commercial jet maker after Boeing and Airbus, passing Canada's Bombardier.
"Brazilian companies are starting to become global players," said Horacio Forjaz, the company's vice president. "We're in a virtuous cycle."
Leaving the Real Estate Slump Behind in Panama
by Amy Keller
Developer Todd Gates is finding new opportunities in Central America.
[Photo: Greg Brown]
When the real estate slump first hit Florida two years ago, Naples developer Todd Gates began sniffing around Central America and Caribbean markets for business opportunities. Gates, chairman of a Naples-based construction and real estate development company that bears his name, realized quickly the place to be was in economically booming Panama.
The once sleepy Central American nation is experiencing unprecedented growth thanks to an influx of American retirees, investment from other Latin American countries and the $5.25-billion expansion of the 93-year-old Panama Canal, which will double the canal system’s shipping capacity by 2014.
To land projects in Panama, Gates forged a partnership with Cocige, one of Central America’s largest construction companies, helping American and European companies looking to expand into Panama navigate the permitting process. The Gates-Cocige partnership offers companies the peace of mind of working with an American-based contractor and the expertise of individuals who understand the Panamanian system.
Today, Gates-Cocige is working on four projects: A 24-story hotel in downtown Panama, a 1,500-acre resort community on a remote island, a 150-acre marina and resort and a 400,000-sq.-ft. office building and hotel in downtown Panama. Gates spends one week a month in Panama, but he doesn’t mind the commute to the second-largest free trade zone in the world. “You can get there quicker than you can get to Tallahassee.”
http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?aid=48107
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
First phase of Howard project to require US$405mn
Panama
A minimum of US$405mn will be invested during the first phase of the Howard airport area development plan, the administrator of the Panamá-Pacífico Special Economic Area Agency, Gilberto Ferrari, told BNamericas.
The project's master plan was approved last week, following the signing of the 40-year public-private partnership contract in June this year.
The project aims to convert the old Howard air base, once owned by the US, into a regional air cargo transport hub, said Ferrari, adding that Panama City's Tocumen international airport already acts as a regional air passenger transport hub.
The first phase of works in the Panamá Pacífico project, to be developed around Howard, will include the construction of roads to improve the connectivity of the airport to the rest of the country; potable water and sewage networks; and wastewater treatment facilities.
The project will also involve the implementing of a mass transport system to cover the area and connect it to Panama City.
The Howard air force base is located to the southwest of the Panama Canal, while Panama City is located to the southeast of the canal. Tocumen and Howard are a 15 minute-flight from each other.
The second phase will be to build the industrial infrastructure related to the initiative, while the third will consist of strengthening the business aspect and the construction of related facilities. The fourth phase of the project will be to unify the first three phases.
The overall project is expected to require a US$705mn investment.
http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=5¬icia=417158&idioma=I
A minimum of US$405mn will be invested during the first phase of the Howard airport area development plan, the administrator of the Panamá-Pacífico Special Economic Area Agency, Gilberto Ferrari, told BNamericas.
The project's master plan was approved last week, following the signing of the 40-year public-private partnership contract in June this year.
The project aims to convert the old Howard air base, once owned by the US, into a regional air cargo transport hub, said Ferrari, adding that Panama City's Tocumen international airport already acts as a regional air passenger transport hub.
The first phase of works in the Panamá Pacífico project, to be developed around Howard, will include the construction of roads to improve the connectivity of the airport to the rest of the country; potable water and sewage networks; and wastewater treatment facilities.
The project will also involve the implementing of a mass transport system to cover the area and connect it to Panama City.
The Howard air force base is located to the southwest of the Panama Canal, while Panama City is located to the southeast of the canal. Tocumen and Howard are a 15 minute-flight from each other.
The second phase will be to build the industrial infrastructure related to the initiative, while the third will consist of strengthening the business aspect and the construction of related facilities. The fourth phase of the project will be to unify the first three phases.
The overall project is expected to require a US$705mn investment.
http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=5¬icia=417158&idioma=I
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Old Howard to become hub of world class business and commerce
This is a project that we will watch carefully as it has tremendous potential for Panama. Not just because of the super location and infrastructure, but because one of the largest European real estate companies is behind it. Now comes this article about the master plan approval including RESIDENTIAL Tourism of course.
Howard plans approved
London & Regional Properties will invest $405 million in its
development of the former military base.
2,750 acres to be used for business, residential, recreational and
educational purposes.
JIHAN RODRÍGUEZ/LA PRENSA
More big names/long term investments coming to Panama. Good for Panama.
Cheers.
Future Plans: The former Howard military base will be converted into a
"hub of world class business and commerce," with residential and
recreational areas as well.
The master plan for the development of the former Howard military base
has been approved by the Agencia del Área Económica Especial Panamá
Pacífico (AAEEPP). The plan was submitted by London & Regional
Properties (L&P), one of the biggest private property companies in
Europe.
L&P secured the development deal, one of the world´s largest, earlier
this year. The company will embark on its eight-year development
program beginning in early 2008. L&R hopes to position the former base
as a world class global investment, commercial and leisure destination.
The master plan envisions a variety of uses for the 2,750-acre site,
including a technology park, residential areas of varying density that
can accommodate some 20,000 homes, trade centers, hotels, a resort and a
golf course.
"What we are going to build is a hub of world class business and
commerce. And at the same time, a high-quality urban environment, which
maintains the character of a garden city, said a spokesperson.
The city will house mainly workers and executives of the companies
installed there, but that does not exclude the possibility that others
may be able to buy in to the area.
Some companies have been offered special incentives to set up shop in
the new Howard, including call centers, logistics services, high-tech
manufacturing, data centers and companies involved in aircraft
maintenance and repair.
Howard plans approved
London & Regional Properties will invest $405 million in its
development of the former military base.
2,750 acres to be used for business, residential, recreational and
educational purposes.
JIHAN RODRÍGUEZ/LA PRENSA
More big names/long term investments coming to Panama. Good for Panama.
Cheers.
Future Plans: The former Howard military base will be converted into a
"hub of world class business and commerce," with residential and
recreational areas as well.
The master plan for the development of the former Howard military base
has been approved by the Agencia del Área Económica Especial Panamá
Pacífico (AAEEPP). The plan was submitted by London & Regional
Properties (L&P), one of the biggest private property companies in
Europe.
L&P secured the development deal, one of the world´s largest, earlier
this year. The company will embark on its eight-year development
program beginning in early 2008. L&R hopes to position the former base
as a world class global investment, commercial and leisure destination.
The master plan envisions a variety of uses for the 2,750-acre site,
including a technology park, residential areas of varying density that
can accommodate some 20,000 homes, trade centers, hotels, a resort and a
golf course.
"What we are going to build is a hub of world class business and
commerce. And at the same time, a high-quality urban environment, which
maintains the character of a garden city, said a spokesperson.
The city will house mainly workers and executives of the companies
installed there, but that does not exclude the possibility that others
may be able to buy in to the area.
Some companies have been offered special incentives to set up shop in
the new Howard, including call centers, logistics services, high-tech
manufacturing, data centers and companies involved in aircraft
maintenance and repair.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Gazit-Globe to invest $1 billion in Panama real estate
Investment company confirms first ever deal in South America, keeps contract details under raps. Move considered surprising in view of company's refrainment from past investments in developing markets.
Naama Sikuler Published: 12.06.07, 08:52 / Israel Money
Israel's Gazit-Globe announced Thursday that it is considering a new strategic real estate investment in Panama, Ynet has learned.
The move is seen as relatively surprising, since Gazit-Globe's chairman, Chaim Katzman, who has controlling interest in the company, has never been partial to investing in developing countries before.
"I try not to do business in a country where people can wake up in the morning and find a tank parked outside their kitchen window," he said in March. The Panama investment is considered part of the company's new strategy, which includes investing in developing markets such as Mexico, Brazil and India, where Gazit-Globe plans to invest $110 million in a real estate investment fund.
Gazit-Globe plans to invest some $1 billion in its Panama venture, but the company prefers to keep the venture's details under raps for the time being.
"The company in currently looking into several real estate deals in various South American countries, in accordance with its expansion plans," said a statement by the company spokesman. Gazit-Globe, which is registered for trade in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, reported a 102% growth in revenue in its third quarter of 2007 and an 18% increase in income for the same period.
Naama Sikuler Published: 12.06.07, 08:52 / Israel Money
Israel's Gazit-Globe announced Thursday that it is considering a new strategic real estate investment in Panama, Ynet has learned.
The move is seen as relatively surprising, since Gazit-Globe's chairman, Chaim Katzman, who has controlling interest in the company, has never been partial to investing in developing countries before.
"I try not to do business in a country where people can wake up in the morning and find a tank parked outside their kitchen window," he said in March. The Panama investment is considered part of the company's new strategy, which includes investing in developing markets such as Mexico, Brazil and India, where Gazit-Globe plans to invest $110 million in a real estate investment fund.
Gazit-Globe plans to invest some $1 billion in its Panama venture, but the company prefers to keep the venture's details under raps for the time being.
"The company in currently looking into several real estate deals in various South American countries, in accordance with its expansion plans," said a statement by the company spokesman. Gazit-Globe, which is registered for trade in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, reported a 102% growth in revenue in its third quarter of 2007 and an 18% increase in income for the same period.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Rich Venezuelans pick Panama over Chavez
December 3, 2007 10:30 pm blog2 Uncategorized
2007-11-14
Reuters
Andrew Beatty
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Wealthy Venezuelans are emigrating to Panama in increasing numbers, snapping up luxury homes as they fear their leftist President Hugo Chavez will hold onto power for life and rebuild the country in the image of Communist Cuba.
With a shining new skyline, Panama is starting to rival Miami as a center for Venezuelan expatriates, who are attracted by the Central American country’s booming economy and a lively Caribbean culture like their own.
The exodus is compounded by U.S. foe Chavez pushing constitutional changes that would scrap presidential term limits and limit press freedom during political crises.
Some worry that Chavez, who is a tight ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro and promises a socialist revolution, will one day copy Cuba’s one-party system that sharply restricts personal freedoms.
“I love Venezuela. I feel happy to have been born in a country that has everything, but there is one important thing called liberty,” said Maria Alejandra Chacon, who used to work as a journalist in Venezuela.
Panamanian government statistics show a surge in Venezuelans entering the country, and one Venezuelan expatriate group estimated about 15,000 of them have settled in Panama over the last year.
VENEZUELAN DIASPORA
After arriving in Panama City, Chacon and her husband, an architect, headed to the Cafe Le Brioche, a Venezuelan bakery in the trendy Cangrejo district that has become a meeting spot for the Venezuelan diaspora.
There, newbies hit up seasoned expatriates for tips on where to live and shop as they munch on cachitos, the meat-filled pastries that are Venezuela’s national snack.
Restaurateur Freddy Marquez, 32, had thought about opening a new eatery in Miami, but he said Panama City had a more familiar vibe.
“It is just like a Venezuelan city. In Miami the people are a little colder,” he said.
Soon, Marquez will open a modish French bistro that will serve dishes like duck breast on sauteed couscous in one of Panama City’s ritziest shopping districts.
He said he was also attracted by Panama’s business environment, with little red tape for setting up a company.
Chavez, who calls U.S. President George W. Bush the devil, is overwhelming popular in Venezuela for spending the country’s huge oil wealth on the poor majority.
But well-heeled Venezuelans are put off by his socialist vision, and want out of a country battered by rising crime rates, periodic food shortages and a persistently depreciating currency.
One of Chacon’s friends was recently shot dead.
According to Panama’s migration authorities, some 10,000 more Venezuelans came to Panama in the first eight months of this year than during the whole of last year. Many come on tourist cards but end up putting down roots.
Roberto Arias, one of Cafe Le Brioche’s owners and a former Venezuelan government official, said a new arrival from Venezuela used to come into the cafe every month.
“Now it is a stampede,” he said.
Separated by a two-hour flight across the southern Caribbean, Panama and Venezuela have close cultural and historical ties.
Both were part of Greater Colombia — the republic founded in the 19th century by Simon Bolivar, who led the South American fight for independence from Spain.
For Panama, the influx of wealthy Venezuelans has helped fuel a real estate boom that has been a big factor in the economy’s growth rate this year of more than 9 percent
2007-11-14
Reuters
Andrew Beatty
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Wealthy Venezuelans are emigrating to Panama in increasing numbers, snapping up luxury homes as they fear their leftist President Hugo Chavez will hold onto power for life and rebuild the country in the image of Communist Cuba.
With a shining new skyline, Panama is starting to rival Miami as a center for Venezuelan expatriates, who are attracted by the Central American country’s booming economy and a lively Caribbean culture like their own.
The exodus is compounded by U.S. foe Chavez pushing constitutional changes that would scrap presidential term limits and limit press freedom during political crises.
Some worry that Chavez, who is a tight ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro and promises a socialist revolution, will one day copy Cuba’s one-party system that sharply restricts personal freedoms.
“I love Venezuela. I feel happy to have been born in a country that has everything, but there is one important thing called liberty,” said Maria Alejandra Chacon, who used to work as a journalist in Venezuela.
Panamanian government statistics show a surge in Venezuelans entering the country, and one Venezuelan expatriate group estimated about 15,000 of them have settled in Panama over the last year.
VENEZUELAN DIASPORA
After arriving in Panama City, Chacon and her husband, an architect, headed to the Cafe Le Brioche, a Venezuelan bakery in the trendy Cangrejo district that has become a meeting spot for the Venezuelan diaspora.
There, newbies hit up seasoned expatriates for tips on where to live and shop as they munch on cachitos, the meat-filled pastries that are Venezuela’s national snack.
Restaurateur Freddy Marquez, 32, had thought about opening a new eatery in Miami, but he said Panama City had a more familiar vibe.
“It is just like a Venezuelan city. In Miami the people are a little colder,” he said.
Soon, Marquez will open a modish French bistro that will serve dishes like duck breast on sauteed couscous in one of Panama City’s ritziest shopping districts.
He said he was also attracted by Panama’s business environment, with little red tape for setting up a company.
Chavez, who calls U.S. President George W. Bush the devil, is overwhelming popular in Venezuela for spending the country’s huge oil wealth on the poor majority.
But well-heeled Venezuelans are put off by his socialist vision, and want out of a country battered by rising crime rates, periodic food shortages and a persistently depreciating currency.
One of Chacon’s friends was recently shot dead.
According to Panama’s migration authorities, some 10,000 more Venezuelans came to Panama in the first eight months of this year than during the whole of last year. Many come on tourist cards but end up putting down roots.
Roberto Arias, one of Cafe Le Brioche’s owners and a former Venezuelan government official, said a new arrival from Venezuela used to come into the cafe every month.
“Now it is a stampede,” he said.
Separated by a two-hour flight across the southern Caribbean, Panama and Venezuela have close cultural and historical ties.
Both were part of Greater Colombia — the republic founded in the 19th century by Simon Bolivar, who led the South American fight for independence from Spain.
For Panama, the influx of wealthy Venezuelans has helped fuel a real estate boom that has been a big factor in the economy’s growth rate this year of more than 9 percent
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Exit U.S.
By Mike Muehleck
One and a half million U.S. households are preparing to move out of the U.S.
The vast majority of émigrés are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. And some may not
ever return.
No, we are not talking about the next major deployment of National Guard
units to the Middle East. In fact, none of the emigrants are government
workers or corporate employees leaving for temporary overseas assignments.
These folks are malcontents or adventurers. They consist entirely of private
citizens and their families packing up and leaving the good ol’ USA solely at
their own initiative.
This news comes from a Zogby International poll of 115,000 Americans
conducted over the past two years. Bob Adams, CEO of New Global Initiatives,
commissioned the poll when he realized that no reliable database tracks the
movement of Americans out of the country. A recent Barron’s article, written
by Bob Adams, breaks down the Zogby/New Global Initiatives data as follows:
· 1.6 million (U.S. households) have already made the decision to leave
· 1.8 million are seriously considering and likely to leave
· 7.7 million are somewhat serious about leaving and may do so
· 3.0 million are seriously considering purchase of non-U.S. property
· 10.0 million are somewhat serious about purchase of non-U.S. property
Adding it all up, some 10% of all U.S. households are looking to leave the
country, while another 11% are considering living outside the U.S. at least
part time.
“That Can’t Be Right”
“Incredulous” is the word that best describes the reaction of people when
they hear Adams’ conclusions. I brought the subject up the other night while
barbequing and drinking beer with some American business people I know here
in Bangkok. Even this well-traveled group greeted the poll results with
skepticism. They asked, “How did he get thes data? Who did they interview?”
Maybe I was missing something, I thought to myself. So I decided to give Bob
Adams a call. I reached him one evening at his home in Panama. “It’s
happening,” Adams insisted, when asked about this new wave of emigration.
“And we really can’t say exactly why.”
While Adams’ survey includes destinations all over the world, the survey’s
findings corroborate Adams’ first-hand observations in Panama. Adams says the
recent American immigrants to Panama are different from previous ones. Ten
years ago, the typical American ex-pat in Panama was likely to be a retiree
who had previously been in Panama. Perhaps they had been on a military
assignment or with the Canal Zone administration. These folks tended to live
in “American only” enclaves for social and security reasons and had fairly
little interaction with the local population. These older ex-pats frequently
used the words “tropical paradise” to describe why they moved to Panama.
But today’s immigrants tend to be a lot younger, professionally employed, and
more likely to meld into the international community than earlier
transplants. These folks generally say they moved to Panama for adventure, a
lower cost of living, or to escape the growing intrusiveness of the American
political and legal systems.
Adams’ interest in the topic of American emigration is the result of
serendipity. Having lived and worked overseas for four decades, Adams decided
it was time to settle down. He identified Panama as the best candidate. As he
was preparing to move, he noticed the poor quality of Web sites catering to
potential immigrants to Panama. So he set up his own site,
RetirementWave.com. He intended to create an impromptu guide to assist like-
minded people in the decision to move to Panama. But it quickly turned into
an unpaid job responding to inquiries from interested parties worldwide.
Adams realized he could reach an audience that extends beyond Central
American real estate investors.
Why Do People Emigrate?
Why do people leave home for strange foreign lands? While a handful might
claim to leave for political or religious reasons, most seek greater economic
opportunity. All of my grandparents emigrated from Germany or Lithuania in
the early 1900s. My wife’s Chinese grandparents, for example, emigrated from
China to Siam in the same generation. None moved to new lands because of a
burning desire to be “free.” They all moved because they wanted to make more
money and thus enjoy a better life.
If you Google the word “emigration,” and you’ll mostly get sites that detail
the emigration from Europe to the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th century.
Google “American emigration” and you get a link to Adams’ New Global
Initiatives Web site and not much else. Most economic oriented sites only
discuss the effects of legal and illegal immigration into the U.S. It’s hard
to find any thoughts about the economic, political, and demographic effects
of younger Americans leaving for greener pastures overseas.
If people emigrate to find economic opportunity, might Adams’ survey portend
bad news for the U.S.? Current U.S. GDP is $44,000 per person versus Panama’s
$8,000. It seems unlikely that people are leaving for immediate financial
gains. Still, Panama is a young country demographically, with a median age of
26. Panama’s GDP grew at an 8% clip last year. It doesn’t have the U.S. baby
boomers’ $55 trillion unfunded pension liability. Neither is it involved in
difficult, expensive Middle East nation-building. So we should not be
surprised if a growing number of 20-to -40-year-old Americans are willing and
eager to abandon the wealth that “has been” to pursue the wealth that “might
be.”
Investors might want to consider a similar tactic.
http://www.agorafinancial.com/afrude/
One and a half million U.S. households are preparing to move out of the U.S.
The vast majority of émigrés are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. And some may not
ever return.
No, we are not talking about the next major deployment of National Guard
units to the Middle East. In fact, none of the emigrants are government
workers or corporate employees leaving for temporary overseas assignments.
These folks are malcontents or adventurers. They consist entirely of private
citizens and their families packing up and leaving the good ol’ USA solely at
their own initiative.
This news comes from a Zogby International poll of 115,000 Americans
conducted over the past two years. Bob Adams, CEO of New Global Initiatives,
commissioned the poll when he realized that no reliable database tracks the
movement of Americans out of the country. A recent Barron’s article, written
by Bob Adams, breaks down the Zogby/New Global Initiatives data as follows:
· 1.6 million (U.S. households) have already made the decision to leave
· 1.8 million are seriously considering and likely to leave
· 7.7 million are somewhat serious about leaving and may do so
· 3.0 million are seriously considering purchase of non-U.S. property
· 10.0 million are somewhat serious about purchase of non-U.S. property
Adding it all up, some 10% of all U.S. households are looking to leave the
country, while another 11% are considering living outside the U.S. at least
part time.
“That Can’t Be Right”
“Incredulous” is the word that best describes the reaction of people when
they hear Adams’ conclusions. I brought the subject up the other night while
barbequing and drinking beer with some American business people I know here
in Bangkok. Even this well-traveled group greeted the poll results with
skepticism. They asked, “How did he get thes data? Who did they interview?”
Maybe I was missing something, I thought to myself. So I decided to give Bob
Adams a call. I reached him one evening at his home in Panama. “It’s
happening,” Adams insisted, when asked about this new wave of emigration.
“And we really can’t say exactly why.”
While Adams’ survey includes destinations all over the world, the survey’s
findings corroborate Adams’ first-hand observations in Panama. Adams says the
recent American immigrants to Panama are different from previous ones. Ten
years ago, the typical American ex-pat in Panama was likely to be a retiree
who had previously been in Panama. Perhaps they had been on a military
assignment or with the Canal Zone administration. These folks tended to live
in “American only” enclaves for social and security reasons and had fairly
little interaction with the local population. These older ex-pats frequently
used the words “tropical paradise” to describe why they moved to Panama.
But today’s immigrants tend to be a lot younger, professionally employed, and
more likely to meld into the international community than earlier
transplants. These folks generally say they moved to Panama for adventure, a
lower cost of living, or to escape the growing intrusiveness of the American
political and legal systems.
Adams’ interest in the topic of American emigration is the result of
serendipity. Having lived and worked overseas for four decades, Adams decided
it was time to settle down. He identified Panama as the best candidate. As he
was preparing to move, he noticed the poor quality of Web sites catering to
potential immigrants to Panama. So he set up his own site,
RetirementWave.com. He intended to create an impromptu guide to assist like-
minded people in the decision to move to Panama. But it quickly turned into
an unpaid job responding to inquiries from interested parties worldwide.
Adams realized he could reach an audience that extends beyond Central
American real estate investors.
Why Do People Emigrate?
Why do people leave home for strange foreign lands? While a handful might
claim to leave for political or religious reasons, most seek greater economic
opportunity. All of my grandparents emigrated from Germany or Lithuania in
the early 1900s. My wife’s Chinese grandparents, for example, emigrated from
China to Siam in the same generation. None moved to new lands because of a
burning desire to be “free.” They all moved because they wanted to make more
money and thus enjoy a better life.
If you Google the word “emigration,” and you’ll mostly get sites that detail
the emigration from Europe to the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th century.
Google “American emigration” and you get a link to Adams’ New Global
Initiatives Web site and not much else. Most economic oriented sites only
discuss the effects of legal and illegal immigration into the U.S. It’s hard
to find any thoughts about the economic, political, and demographic effects
of younger Americans leaving for greener pastures overseas.
If people emigrate to find economic opportunity, might Adams’ survey portend
bad news for the U.S.? Current U.S. GDP is $44,000 per person versus Panama’s
$8,000. It seems unlikely that people are leaving for immediate financial
gains. Still, Panama is a young country demographically, with a median age of
26. Panama’s GDP grew at an 8% clip last year. It doesn’t have the U.S. baby
boomers’ $55 trillion unfunded pension liability. Neither is it involved in
difficult, expensive Middle East nation-building. So we should not be
surprised if a growing number of 20-to -40-year-old Americans are willing and
eager to abandon the wealth that “has been” to pursue the wealth that “might
be.”
Investors might want to consider a similar tactic.
http://www.agorafinancial.com/afrude/
Monday, November 26, 2007
Law 41 of 2007 in a nutshell
Thanks to Jaime Raúl Molina for this article regarding the new law 41.
Back in August this year, Law 41 was enacted. This piece of legislation is one that has not generated as much interest in the mainstream media as it should have, because it is one of the most important pieces of legislation that this country has produced in the last decade for improving the investment climate. It has the potential of converting Panama into the jurisdiction of choice for regional corporate headquarters for Latin America.
Main features of this law are:
Applicability. It applies to companies that offer and sell administration, accounting, management, logistics and other services to its own affiliates, subsidiaries or parent companies only.
Foreign employees limit exemption. The Labor Code of Panama places a ceiling on the percentage of foreigners a company may have among its personnel. The actual percentage varies according to special circumstances, but the maximum is 15%. However, with this law, multinational companies covered by this law will be exempted and will be able to hire foreigners without an upper limit of foreigners in their personnel, as long as those foreigners fall under what Panamanian Labor legislation terms “Employee of Trust”, which is basically an executive.
Tax benefits. As the operations of these companies consist in the provision of services to their affiliates abroad, the corresponding income is not taxable in Panama. Remember here that Panama has a territorial taxation system of income, thus, any income generated outside Panama, is automatically exempt from income tax.
Work permits facilitated. The paperwork needed for the obtainment of the visas and work permits of the foreign employees of the multinational company, will be significantly reduced.
Special license. Multinational companies wishing to take advantage of this law need to apply for a special license before the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
Most of the advantages of Law 41 are not really new in Panama. What is an innovation is the fact that they have now been consolidated in a straightforward and easy to understand piece of legislation.
Law 41, in conjunction to the other known advantages of Panama, like its geographic position in the center of the Americas, its excellent communications, and its modern financial system integrated to the world, among others, are expected to attract multinational companies to establish their regional corporate headquarters in this beautiful country.
What will Panama gain from this?
Are you kidding me? First, this obviously translates into more investment and more employment (for they will need to hire locals too, as any foreign company does, not to mention the indirect employment effect), even more tourism.
But more importantly in the longer term, this will also generate the import of knowledge. If a headquartering cluster is created, then it means that much world-class managerial and entrepreneurial know-how is coming to Panama. The spillover effect will be enormous.
If Panama succeeds in this goal of getting to be chosen by multinational corporations as their base of operations for the Latin American region, this can only mean good news for Panamanians.
Back in August this year, Law 41 was enacted. This piece of legislation is one that has not generated as much interest in the mainstream media as it should have, because it is one of the most important pieces of legislation that this country has produced in the last decade for improving the investment climate. It has the potential of converting Panama into the jurisdiction of choice for regional corporate headquarters for Latin America.
Main features of this law are:
Applicability. It applies to companies that offer and sell administration, accounting, management, logistics and other services to its own affiliates, subsidiaries or parent companies only.
Foreign employees limit exemption. The Labor Code of Panama places a ceiling on the percentage of foreigners a company may have among its personnel. The actual percentage varies according to special circumstances, but the maximum is 15%. However, with this law, multinational companies covered by this law will be exempted and will be able to hire foreigners without an upper limit of foreigners in their personnel, as long as those foreigners fall under what Panamanian Labor legislation terms “Employee of Trust”, which is basically an executive.
Tax benefits. As the operations of these companies consist in the provision of services to their affiliates abroad, the corresponding income is not taxable in Panama. Remember here that Panama has a territorial taxation system of income, thus, any income generated outside Panama, is automatically exempt from income tax.
Work permits facilitated. The paperwork needed for the obtainment of the visas and work permits of the foreign employees of the multinational company, will be significantly reduced.
Special license. Multinational companies wishing to take advantage of this law need to apply for a special license before the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
Most of the advantages of Law 41 are not really new in Panama. What is an innovation is the fact that they have now been consolidated in a straightforward and easy to understand piece of legislation.
Law 41, in conjunction to the other known advantages of Panama, like its geographic position in the center of the Americas, its excellent communications, and its modern financial system integrated to the world, among others, are expected to attract multinational companies to establish their regional corporate headquarters in this beautiful country.
What will Panama gain from this?
Are you kidding me? First, this obviously translates into more investment and more employment (for they will need to hire locals too, as any foreign company does, not to mention the indirect employment effect), even more tourism.
But more importantly in the longer term, this will also generate the import of knowledge. If a headquartering cluster is created, then it means that much world-class managerial and entrepreneurial know-how is coming to Panama. The spillover effect will be enormous.
If Panama succeeds in this goal of getting to be chosen by multinational corporations as their base of operations for the Latin American region, this can only mean good news for Panamanians.
New law 45 facilitates consumer when contracts are voided
The complaints received by the consumer protection agency after the Ice Tower debacle were deafening to the point that a new law has been implemented to attempt to keep this from happening again. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion as to the full ramifications and, the regulations will come much later than the proclamation. The way the law is being presented now, a consumer can get out of any contract and recieve a full refund if he has not taken possesion of the goods. As one can imagine, the real estate industry is in a tizzy as well as many of the other affected businesses. How many projects would be able to recieve bank fnancing if the client can walk away without penalty is a mjor question to be answered. I am certain the the real estate industry will not let that go uncontested or it would spell the end for the industry in Panama. Here are two of what will be many newspaper articles dealing with this subject.
Panama, Tuesday, November 20, 2007
New law facilitates the clients void their contract
Mario Muñoz andrem@prensa.com
Now the consumer counts on a new tool that grants them to be able to put aim to its contracts of benefit of services or provision of goods and to change to other suppliers. According to a new article, (77) including in Law No. 45 of 31st of October of 2007, clauses in the contracts that establish terms of excessive duration or limitations are prohibited that exclude or prevent the right of the consumer to end the contract.
¨The article does not discriminate some type of matter, reason why we must understand that it talks about any type of consumption contract. The norm does not discriminate any matter. One is due to understand that all the economic agents who sell goods or offer services to the consumer ", Dayra Vial said, female leader of Legal Consultant's office of the Authority of Protection of the Consumer and Defense of the Competition. "Many consumers complain which terms or excessive duration in contracts settle down", Vial said.
The measurement would have to be applied in contracts of public services, fix and mobile telephone, service of cable, among others. The introduction of the article took by surprise to the enterprise sector, since their representatives participated in the first debate of this law that unified previous Law No. 29 of 1996 and Decree no. 9 of the 20 of February of 2006.
Irving Halman, representative of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, explained that this article was including in second debates without consulting to the private sector. Another source added that the affected sectors more are real estate and the one of the construction, because they generate insecurity to the banks that will change the financing rules.
Panama, Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Clients without onerous sanction
Mario Muñoz andresm@prensa.com
When a consumer decides to cancel a contract by the benefit of a service or the purchase of or does not have to receive no type of onerous or out of proportion sanction, according to article 77 of new Law No. 45 of the 31st of October of 2007. The norm establishes that in case of contract cancellation clauses of penalty like the loss of the in advance paid amounts are prohibited, the installment of amounts by non served or the unilateral execution of the penal clauses that had fixed contractually.
Either, the companies cannot establish clauses that fix indemnifications that do not correspond with the damages indeed caused. According to the Authority of Protection of the Consumer, "with Law No. 45, these unjust practices for the consumers will be sanctioned by the institution". In article 76 of this same law it is indicated like abusive and null when that clause that confers to the supplier out of proportion or little precise terms. Also an out of proportion delay term is abusive, for the execution of the benefit to its position or the establishment of indemnifications, penal clauses or interest out of proportion.
Panama, Tuesday, November 20, 2007
New law facilitates the clients void their contract
Mario Muñoz andrem@prensa.com
Now the consumer counts on a new tool that grants them to be able to put aim to its contracts of benefit of services or provision of goods and to change to other suppliers. According to a new article, (77) including in Law No. 45 of 31st of October of 2007, clauses in the contracts that establish terms of excessive duration or limitations are prohibited that exclude or prevent the right of the consumer to end the contract.
¨The article does not discriminate some type of matter, reason why we must understand that it talks about any type of consumption contract. The norm does not discriminate any matter. One is due to understand that all the economic agents who sell goods or offer services to the consumer ", Dayra Vial said, female leader of Legal Consultant's office of the Authority of Protection of the Consumer and Defense of the Competition. "Many consumers complain which terms or excessive duration in contracts settle down", Vial said.
The measurement would have to be applied in contracts of public services, fix and mobile telephone, service of cable, among others. The introduction of the article took by surprise to the enterprise sector, since their representatives participated in the first debate of this law that unified previous Law No. 29 of 1996 and Decree no. 9 of the 20 of February of 2006.
Irving Halman, representative of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, explained that this article was including in second debates without consulting to the private sector. Another source added that the affected sectors more are real estate and the one of the construction, because they generate insecurity to the banks that will change the financing rules.
Panama, Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Clients without onerous sanction
Mario Muñoz andresm@prensa.com
When a consumer decides to cancel a contract by the benefit of a service or the purchase of or does not have to receive no type of onerous or out of proportion sanction, according to article 77 of new Law No. 45 of the 31st of October of 2007. The norm establishes that in case of contract cancellation clauses of penalty like the loss of the in advance paid amounts are prohibited, the installment of amounts by non served or the unilateral execution of the penal clauses that had fixed contractually.
Either, the companies cannot establish clauses that fix indemnifications that do not correspond with the damages indeed caused. According to the Authority of Protection of the Consumer, "with Law No. 45, these unjust practices for the consumers will be sanctioned by the institution". In article 76 of this same law it is indicated like abusive and null when that clause that confers to the supplier out of proportion or little precise terms. Also an out of proportion delay term is abusive, for the execution of the benefit to its position or the establishment of indemnifications, penal clauses or interest out of proportion.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Law 41; ‘Unprecedented boost’ for Panama market
From the Estateangels.com in UK.
Thu 22nd Nov, 07:30:09 UTC
Law 41', recently passed by Panama’s National Assembly, created a stir throughout the region earlier this month as savvy investors recognized its potential to give a further boost to the already booming real estate market.
The Law, designed to encourage the establishment of Multinational Companies in Panama, gives exemption to Multinationals from the payment of income tax in the Republic Of Panama for all services provided to any entity domiciled outside Panama.
In addition, it allows licensed Corporations to hire trusted foreign employees to fill management positions in the company authorizing them to work and reside in Panama which could spell an influx of international professionals moving to Panama.
Favorable economic development In recent years,
Panama 's significant real estate growth has been triggered by the country's favorable economic development, which in turn has been boosted by political stability, an increase in tourism and the recovery of activity in the Panama Canal. However, this latest development will give an unprecedented additional boost to Panama City's real estate market as multinational corporations relocate to Panama and the demand for residential and office space increases.
HP and Caterpillar are just two of the first to announce new offices in Panama City and with Proctor and Gamble also rumored to be relocating a significant part of its Latin American business to Panama , the trend looks set to continue.
While residential sales prices have been increasing, particularly in prime locations, another interesting trend has been those related to Class A office space.
Vacancy rates for Class A office space are already down from 30% last year to 3% meaning that today there is virtually no available Class A space in Panama City. In addition, with Class A office space in such demand, lease rates have increased by approximately 20% over the past year.
Time is right to invest
"Average lease rates for Class A are $16-$20 per m2 per month with total occupancy costs at $22.74 per m2 per month (below those in the region including Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Uruguay, Caracas, Bogota, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro) giving ample space for growth and also allowing for multinationals moving to Panama" said Alan Morrison, Vice President of Knightsbridge Investment Group, Panama City
"In addition, current sales prices are favorable, with the average sale price at $2,200 per m2. With these prices and Law 41 providing the final impetus for Multinational Corporations to relocate to Panama, the time is right for those looking to make an investment in real estate in Panama."
http://www.estateangels.co.uk/propertynews/2007-11-22/unprecedented_boost_for_panama_market
Thu 22nd Nov, 07:30:09 UTC
Law 41', recently passed by Panama’s National Assembly, created a stir throughout the region earlier this month as savvy investors recognized its potential to give a further boost to the already booming real estate market.
The Law, designed to encourage the establishment of Multinational Companies in Panama, gives exemption to Multinationals from the payment of income tax in the Republic Of Panama for all services provided to any entity domiciled outside Panama.
In addition, it allows licensed Corporations to hire trusted foreign employees to fill management positions in the company authorizing them to work and reside in Panama which could spell an influx of international professionals moving to Panama.
Favorable economic development In recent years,
Panama 's significant real estate growth has been triggered by the country's favorable economic development, which in turn has been boosted by political stability, an increase in tourism and the recovery of activity in the Panama Canal. However, this latest development will give an unprecedented additional boost to Panama City's real estate market as multinational corporations relocate to Panama and the demand for residential and office space increases.
HP and Caterpillar are just two of the first to announce new offices in Panama City and with Proctor and Gamble also rumored to be relocating a significant part of its Latin American business to Panama , the trend looks set to continue.
While residential sales prices have been increasing, particularly in prime locations, another interesting trend has been those related to Class A office space.
Vacancy rates for Class A office space are already down from 30% last year to 3% meaning that today there is virtually no available Class A space in Panama City. In addition, with Class A office space in such demand, lease rates have increased by approximately 20% over the past year.
Time is right to invest
"Average lease rates for Class A are $16-$20 per m2 per month with total occupancy costs at $22.74 per m2 per month (below those in the region including Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Uruguay, Caracas, Bogota, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro) giving ample space for growth and also allowing for multinationals moving to Panama" said Alan Morrison, Vice President of Knightsbridge Investment Group, Panama City
"In addition, current sales prices are favorable, with the average sale price at $2,200 per m2. With these prices and Law 41 providing the final impetus for Multinational Corporations to relocate to Panama, the time is right for those looking to make an investment in real estate in Panama."
http://www.estateangels.co.uk/propertynews/2007-11-22/unprecedented_boost_for_panama_market
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Why does Panama have so many poor?
I have lived and invested in Panama for ten years now and have always wondered why the country has such a small middle class. Why is a large part of their population considered poor by our first world standards and why, with all the natural resources and the many benefits the country has received over the last 100 years, it can't seem to break out of its "third world" or "developing" status. Then I received the following by Michael Bonnell and it became crystal clear.
What then separates the poor from the rich?
The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country.
This can be shown by countries like India and Egypt that are more than 2000 years old and are poor.
On the other hand, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries and are rich.
The difference between poor and rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.
Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture and cattle-raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw material from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.
Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate of the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality. It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order and labor, which made it the world's strong safe.
Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.
Race or skin color is also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.
What is the difference then?
The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education and the culture.
On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich and developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:
1. Ethics, as a basic principle
2. Integrity
3. Responsibility
4. Respect to the laws and rules
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens
6. Work loving
7. Strive for saving and investment
8. Will of super action
9. Punctuality
In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.
We are not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us.
We are poor because we lack attitude.
We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich and developed societies."
Michael J. Bonnell
What then separates the poor from the rich?
The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country.
This can be shown by countries like India and Egypt that are more than 2000 years old and are poor.
On the other hand, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries and are rich.
The difference between poor and rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.
Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture and cattle-raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw material from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.
Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate of the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality. It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order and labor, which made it the world's strong safe.
Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.
Race or skin color is also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.
What is the difference then?
The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education and the culture.
On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich and developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:
1. Ethics, as a basic principle
2. Integrity
3. Responsibility
4. Respect to the laws and rules
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens
6. Work loving
7. Strive for saving and investment
8. Will of super action
9. Punctuality
In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.
We are not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us.
We are poor because we lack attitude.
We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich and developed societies."
Michael J. Bonnell
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Panama Health Care Testimonial
Alex's Notes: This is a testimonial from a Panama Servlist, regarding the medical care here.
------------------------
After a recent experience with Punta Pacifica in Panama City I must be sure the hospital gets it's due. The facility, staff and doctors savedthe life of my wife. They were extraordinary in their skills and care;better than anything I have ever seen in the US.
I am not responding to the insurance thread because I have no knowledge of the insurance plan but I can say only wonderful thingsabout the hospital. In fact they did engage their John Hopkinsrelationship for my wife and fortunately she did recover here but the resources were tapped and were available.If you are interested in our experience here is a link to more details. http://www.boqueteguide.com/?p=1401
As a footnote Jennifer was released yesterday after two weeks in Punta Pacifica Hospital and is expected to recover completely.
------------------------
After a recent experience with Punta Pacifica in Panama City I must be sure the hospital gets it's due. The facility, staff and doctors savedthe life of my wife. They were extraordinary in their skills and care;better than anything I have ever seen in the US.
I am not responding to the insurance thread because I have no knowledge of the insurance plan but I can say only wonderful thingsabout the hospital. In fact they did engage their John Hopkinsrelationship for my wife and fortunately she did recover here but the resources were tapped and were available.If you are interested in our experience here is a link to more details. http://www.boqueteguide.com/?p=1401
As a footnote Jennifer was released yesterday after two weeks in Punta Pacifica Hospital and is expected to recover completely.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Panama's farmers resist hydroelectric projects
Northern Panama is pushing to develop hydroelectric projects where poor, indigenous farmers have lived for generations.
Isabel Becker, a Ngobe Indian who lives in Charco la Pava, Panama, refuses to be displaced by a hydroelectric plant being constructed near her tiny shack.
CHARCO LA PAVA, Panama -- For months now, the widow has clung to her tiny shack in this picturesque village above the Changuinola River -- even when local officials and hydroelectric workers said she must leave, even when a bulldozer roared into her yard in the summer.
''I will not go,'' insists Isabel Becker, 59, a diminutive Ngobe Indian who lives in a dirt-floored home. ``If the company wants to send police to kill me, go ahead.''
In the northern mountains of Panama, two worlds are colliding as the region's fastest growing economy pushes to develop hydroelectric projects in rural river valleys where poor, indigenous farmers have lived for generations.
Nearly 90 hydroelectric projects are proposed in this country, part of a massive effort to wean the booming economy from its dependence on foreign energy -- which accounts for more than two-thirds of the country's use.
While some of the projects will never be built, others are expected to go online in the coming months, and crews have begun work on a 1,100-mile transmission line that will allow the companies to sell electricity across Central America, from Panama to southern Mexico.
Conservation and human rights groups have seized on the issue, saying the dams will devastate aquatic life in the rivers and destroy the culture of some of Panama's surviving indigenous groups.
''Never in our country's history has the relocation of an indigenous population so flagrantly disregarded individual and collective human rights,'' the Alliance for Conservation and Development, a Panamanian nonprofit group, said in a news release last month.
CONTRASTING VIEWS
Becker and other Ngobe villagers contend the Changuinola project will displace thousands of villagers and create a 3,500-acre lake in a wilderness area bordering Central America's largest tract of virgin rain forest. AES, the Virginia-based power company behind the project, says only 140 families will have to be relocated.
''We are an active member of the communities in which we work and are committed to improving the quality of life of the people in Panama as well as protecting the environment,'' an AES statement said.
Even among opponents of the dams, there is little doubt that Panama needs more electricity to keep pace with its economy, which grew more than 8 percent last year.
The question, critics say, is how much and on whose terms?
Darysbeth Martínez, director of climate change for Panama's National Environmental Agency, said the government recognizes the need to quickly and responsibly develop its power resources.
''The environment plays the most important role for sustainable development and tourism in Panama,'' Martínez said. ``We have asked these companies to comply with the environmental laws, and we have provided them with the newest, cleanest technology to apply.''
Four of the dams -- including AES' three proposed dams on the Changuinola River -- sit within a few miles of the border of La Amistad International Peace Park, a World Heritage site that stretches from northern Panama into southern Costa Rica.
The controversy has attracted the attention of U.S. conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned the World Heritage Committee to list the park as ''in danger'' this spring. The center's attorneys argue the dams will create barriers to dozens of species of fish in the park's rivers, sending ripples up the food chain to birds, reptiles and mammals.
''The hydroelectric projects will be the beginning of the end for the park,'' said Ariel Rodriguez, an assistant biology professor at the University of Panama. ``Beyond the environmental impacts to these species, we also need to consider the morality of occupying this pristine zone and how it will impact the indigenous people living there.''
In the cloud forests of the Talamanca Mountains near the Costa Rican border, the controversy has driven a wedge into the tiny Naso indigenous group, which claims to be the last kingdom in the Americas.
KING FORCED TO FLEE
Almost three years ago, in a midnight coup, hundreds of Naso people deposed then-king Tito Santana for supporting a 30-megawatt dam on tribal lands, forcing him to flee down river.
''I must fight for the land so that our children, in the future, will have a place,'' said Valentin Santana, 61, who has claimed the title of king and rallied the Naso to protest the project proposed by a Colombian power company. ``My people have grown here. We have lived here. And we will die here.''
The power companies contend the projects can funnel money into education, healthcare and job opportunities for the Naso and Ngobe. Construction on the AES project alone will bring 3,000 temporary jobs, the majority for unskilled local laborers, the company said.
Others remain skeptical.
''The Naso, in particular, are an endangered people,'' said Hector Huertas, an attorney with the Center for Peoples' Legal Aid, a Panamanian law firm that specializes in indigenous rights. ``If the dam is built, their land will disappear and, little by little, their traditional life will be lost.''
For the Ngobe farmers living in villages above the Changuinola, the conflict came to a head earlier this year, when workers from an AES subsidiary arrived at the home of Isabel Becker. She and her family said they believed the company was going to compensate her for damage that workers had allegedly caused to a grove of fruit trees.
Instead, Becker and two family members allege that AES employees in Panama City badgered her to relinquish the rights to her land, holding her in a meeting room for more than 12 hours. Becker said that after midnight, she affixed her thumbprint to a document surrendering the rights to her property in return for $9,500, plus a $100 monthly payment that will continue until Becker has established a new farm to feed her family.
The document was written in Spanish, but Becker speaks only Ngobe and cannot read or write.
AES did not respond to questions about the meeting and declined to make Humberto A. Gonzales, the company's project director, available for an interview.
Becker said she did not understand the document and will not leave her home. ''I was naive and put my thumb on this document,'' she said. ``I did not know what it meant. I made the first mistake, but I will not sign any other documents.''
Miami Herald
Isabel Becker, a Ngobe Indian who lives in Charco la Pava, Panama, refuses to be displaced by a hydroelectric plant being constructed near her tiny shack.
CHARCO LA PAVA, Panama -- For months now, the widow has clung to her tiny shack in this picturesque village above the Changuinola River -- even when local officials and hydroelectric workers said she must leave, even when a bulldozer roared into her yard in the summer.
''I will not go,'' insists Isabel Becker, 59, a diminutive Ngobe Indian who lives in a dirt-floored home. ``If the company wants to send police to kill me, go ahead.''
In the northern mountains of Panama, two worlds are colliding as the region's fastest growing economy pushes to develop hydroelectric projects in rural river valleys where poor, indigenous farmers have lived for generations.
Nearly 90 hydroelectric projects are proposed in this country, part of a massive effort to wean the booming economy from its dependence on foreign energy -- which accounts for more than two-thirds of the country's use.
While some of the projects will never be built, others are expected to go online in the coming months, and crews have begun work on a 1,100-mile transmission line that will allow the companies to sell electricity across Central America, from Panama to southern Mexico.
Conservation and human rights groups have seized on the issue, saying the dams will devastate aquatic life in the rivers and destroy the culture of some of Panama's surviving indigenous groups.
''Never in our country's history has the relocation of an indigenous population so flagrantly disregarded individual and collective human rights,'' the Alliance for Conservation and Development, a Panamanian nonprofit group, said in a news release last month.
CONTRASTING VIEWS
Becker and other Ngobe villagers contend the Changuinola project will displace thousands of villagers and create a 3,500-acre lake in a wilderness area bordering Central America's largest tract of virgin rain forest. AES, the Virginia-based power company behind the project, says only 140 families will have to be relocated.
''We are an active member of the communities in which we work and are committed to improving the quality of life of the people in Panama as well as protecting the environment,'' an AES statement said.
Even among opponents of the dams, there is little doubt that Panama needs more electricity to keep pace with its economy, which grew more than 8 percent last year.
The question, critics say, is how much and on whose terms?
Darysbeth Martínez, director of climate change for Panama's National Environmental Agency, said the government recognizes the need to quickly and responsibly develop its power resources.
''The environment plays the most important role for sustainable development and tourism in Panama,'' Martínez said. ``We have asked these companies to comply with the environmental laws, and we have provided them with the newest, cleanest technology to apply.''
Four of the dams -- including AES' three proposed dams on the Changuinola River -- sit within a few miles of the border of La Amistad International Peace Park, a World Heritage site that stretches from northern Panama into southern Costa Rica.
The controversy has attracted the attention of U.S. conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned the World Heritage Committee to list the park as ''in danger'' this spring. The center's attorneys argue the dams will create barriers to dozens of species of fish in the park's rivers, sending ripples up the food chain to birds, reptiles and mammals.
''The hydroelectric projects will be the beginning of the end for the park,'' said Ariel Rodriguez, an assistant biology professor at the University of Panama. ``Beyond the environmental impacts to these species, we also need to consider the morality of occupying this pristine zone and how it will impact the indigenous people living there.''
In the cloud forests of the Talamanca Mountains near the Costa Rican border, the controversy has driven a wedge into the tiny Naso indigenous group, which claims to be the last kingdom in the Americas.
KING FORCED TO FLEE
Almost three years ago, in a midnight coup, hundreds of Naso people deposed then-king Tito Santana for supporting a 30-megawatt dam on tribal lands, forcing him to flee down river.
''I must fight for the land so that our children, in the future, will have a place,'' said Valentin Santana, 61, who has claimed the title of king and rallied the Naso to protest the project proposed by a Colombian power company. ``My people have grown here. We have lived here. And we will die here.''
The power companies contend the projects can funnel money into education, healthcare and job opportunities for the Naso and Ngobe. Construction on the AES project alone will bring 3,000 temporary jobs, the majority for unskilled local laborers, the company said.
Others remain skeptical.
''The Naso, in particular, are an endangered people,'' said Hector Huertas, an attorney with the Center for Peoples' Legal Aid, a Panamanian law firm that specializes in indigenous rights. ``If the dam is built, their land will disappear and, little by little, their traditional life will be lost.''
For the Ngobe farmers living in villages above the Changuinola, the conflict came to a head earlier this year, when workers from an AES subsidiary arrived at the home of Isabel Becker. She and her family said they believed the company was going to compensate her for damage that workers had allegedly caused to a grove of fruit trees.
Instead, Becker and two family members allege that AES employees in Panama City badgered her to relinquish the rights to her land, holding her in a meeting room for more than 12 hours. Becker said that after midnight, she affixed her thumbprint to a document surrendering the rights to her property in return for $9,500, plus a $100 monthly payment that will continue until Becker has established a new farm to feed her family.
The document was written in Spanish, but Becker speaks only Ngobe and cannot read or write.
AES did not respond to questions about the meeting and declined to make Humberto A. Gonzales, the company's project director, available for an interview.
Becker said she did not understand the document and will not leave her home. ''I was naive and put my thumb on this document,'' she said. ``I did not know what it meant. I made the first mistake, but I will not sign any other documents.''
Miami Herald
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Come On Down: Dental Procedures, Cosmetic Surgery, Internal Medicine, You Name It…
October 4, 2007
Panama City, Panama
Dear Panama First Alert Reader,
We all worry about healthcare. Our concerns range from having adequate insurance to meeting our healthcare needs as we age to worrying about these same issues for our parents as they age. In the excerpt below, Panama Insider contributor Catherine McCabe introduces you to Panama's latest form of tourism: medical tourism.
Traveling to a different country for a medical procedure may sound scary, but once you do your homework and find out about the experience and competency of potential healthcare providers, and you compare all the costs (adding in air fare and boarding), you may find that it makes a lot of sense.
Panama's New Tourism: Nips, Tucks and Other Perks of the Medical Kind
Punta Pacifica Hospital is one of Panama's most beautiful medical facilities…but is it your idea of a vacation destination? Well, why not?
By Catherine McCabe for Panama Insider
"The hospitals and clinics that cater to the tourist market often are among the best in the world"
- Futurist Marvin Cetron, University of Delaware UDaily, July 25, 2005.
Medical tourism: sounds like an oxymoron, right? How can you combine any kind of medical procedure with a trip and refer to the whole thing as a vacation? Panama wants you to do just that with Pana-Health, an organization that says it is working hard (hand-in-hand with the Panama Tourism Authority, or IPAT) to provide foreigners with safe, less-expensive medical alternatives…and a holiday to boot.
Why is it that so many must seek healthcare abroad? The rising costs of healthcare in many First World nations are making many kinds of treatments there cost-prohibitive. Consider just a few statistics from the U.S., where the rising cost of healthcare has long been a controversial issue:
1) Between 43 and 46 million U.S. citizens are without insurance—many of these are self-employed.
2) About 120 million U.S. citizens are without dental insurance.
3) Some 250 million insured U.S. citizens have highly restricted coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
And those from the U.S. aren't the only ones facing healthcare-related problems. According to the World Health Tourism Congress: "Countries that operate public health-care systems are often so taxed that it can take considerable time to get non-urgent medical care. The time spent waiting for a procedure such as a hip replacement can be a year or more in Britain and Canada."
So what can be done? Some people are seeking medical treatment abroad. Some are undergoing elective procedures (such as cosmetic, wellness or age management treatments) not covered by their insurance plans. Some of these are the "underinsured," whose insurance companies have cut back on coverage while increasing their premiums; some are exploring "alternative" or "experimental" treatments not covered by insurance companies; others are baby boomers who do not yet qualify for Medicare and Medicaid benefits; or those who have lost company/group coverage post-retirement and need procedures not covered by Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
For all these and more, there's Pana-Health
Pana-Health got its start four years ago, thanks to Dr. Richard Ford, a Panamanian-born, U.S.-trained periodontist. Panama offers internationally trained physicians, top-tier hospitals and First-World medical technology that meet U.S. and Canada standards, and Dr. Ford thought: "why not appeal to people seeking lower-cost medical care outside of more expensive nations like the U.S. and Canada?"
All Pana-Health doctors are bilingual—the organization currently has nearly 100 certified physician members, and plans to add many more. Dr. Ford says he wants a larger network because competition is healthy and will help keep costs down. He also supports the right of the patient to review and choose the doctors they're the most comfortable with...the more doctors to choose from, the better. All new potential members must be approved by a special five-member medical board.
Currently, Pana-Health covers, among other specialties: assisted reproduction, cardiology, general dentistry, dental implants, periodontics, prosthodontics (a specialty that encompasses implant, aesthetic and reconstructive dentistry), dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general and oncological surgery, plastic surgery, geriatric care, internal medicine, ophthalmology (the branch of medicine which deals with the diseases and surgery of the visual pathways, including the eye, brain, and areas surrounding the eye), psychology, and urology. If Pana-Health doesn't offer all the services you need, the company will help arrange for you to see local specialists, even if it has to go outside its network (if you wish).
Panama City, Panama
Dear Panama First Alert Reader,
We all worry about healthcare. Our concerns range from having adequate insurance to meeting our healthcare needs as we age to worrying about these same issues for our parents as they age. In the excerpt below, Panama Insider contributor Catherine McCabe introduces you to Panama's latest form of tourism: medical tourism.
Traveling to a different country for a medical procedure may sound scary, but once you do your homework and find out about the experience and competency of potential healthcare providers, and you compare all the costs (adding in air fare and boarding), you may find that it makes a lot of sense.
Panama's New Tourism: Nips, Tucks and Other Perks of the Medical Kind
Punta Pacifica Hospital is one of Panama's most beautiful medical facilities…but is it your idea of a vacation destination? Well, why not?
By Catherine McCabe for Panama Insider
"The hospitals and clinics that cater to the tourist market often are among the best in the world"
- Futurist Marvin Cetron, University of Delaware UDaily, July 25, 2005.
Medical tourism: sounds like an oxymoron, right? How can you combine any kind of medical procedure with a trip and refer to the whole thing as a vacation? Panama wants you to do just that with Pana-Health, an organization that says it is working hard (hand-in-hand with the Panama Tourism Authority, or IPAT) to provide foreigners with safe, less-expensive medical alternatives…and a holiday to boot.
Why is it that so many must seek healthcare abroad? The rising costs of healthcare in many First World nations are making many kinds of treatments there cost-prohibitive. Consider just a few statistics from the U.S., where the rising cost of healthcare has long been a controversial issue:
1) Between 43 and 46 million U.S. citizens are without insurance—many of these are self-employed.
2) About 120 million U.S. citizens are without dental insurance.
3) Some 250 million insured U.S. citizens have highly restricted coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
And those from the U.S. aren't the only ones facing healthcare-related problems. According to the World Health Tourism Congress: "Countries that operate public health-care systems are often so taxed that it can take considerable time to get non-urgent medical care. The time spent waiting for a procedure such as a hip replacement can be a year or more in Britain and Canada."
So what can be done? Some people are seeking medical treatment abroad. Some are undergoing elective procedures (such as cosmetic, wellness or age management treatments) not covered by their insurance plans. Some of these are the "underinsured," whose insurance companies have cut back on coverage while increasing their premiums; some are exploring "alternative" or "experimental" treatments not covered by insurance companies; others are baby boomers who do not yet qualify for Medicare and Medicaid benefits; or those who have lost company/group coverage post-retirement and need procedures not covered by Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
For all these and more, there's Pana-Health
Pana-Health got its start four years ago, thanks to Dr. Richard Ford, a Panamanian-born, U.S.-trained periodontist. Panama offers internationally trained physicians, top-tier hospitals and First-World medical technology that meet U.S. and Canada standards, and Dr. Ford thought: "why not appeal to people seeking lower-cost medical care outside of more expensive nations like the U.S. and Canada?"
All Pana-Health doctors are bilingual—the organization currently has nearly 100 certified physician members, and plans to add many more. Dr. Ford says he wants a larger network because competition is healthy and will help keep costs down. He also supports the right of the patient to review and choose the doctors they're the most comfortable with...the more doctors to choose from, the better. All new potential members must be approved by a special five-member medical board.
Currently, Pana-Health covers, among other specialties: assisted reproduction, cardiology, general dentistry, dental implants, periodontics, prosthodontics (a specialty that encompasses implant, aesthetic and reconstructive dentistry), dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general and oncological surgery, plastic surgery, geriatric care, internal medicine, ophthalmology (the branch of medicine which deals with the diseases and surgery of the visual pathways, including the eye, brain, and areas surrounding the eye), psychology, and urology. If Pana-Health doesn't offer all the services you need, the company will help arrange for you to see local specialists, even if it has to go outside its network (if you wish).
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Retirement abroad: Baby boomers describe living outside America
Lisa Bonos, The Washington Post
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Photos courtesy of the families
RETIRE OVERSEAS: Boomers are finding that retirement overseas can provide new, and cheaper, lifestyles. Americans Robert and Mary Lyle, top, split their time between the United States and England; Hans Groot, right, traded life in New Jersey for the Philippines, and Mary and Matt Strociek, bottom, shown celebrating the Fourth of July in Panama, have retired to a place where the weather and cost of living are lower than their native Chicago.
With careful planning and lots of passion, some baby boomers are turning a dream of an overseas retirement into reality. They’re lured to distant climes on the promise of a higher quality of life. Often they discover a lower cost of living, stunning natural beauty and a sense of community.
But relocating overseas isn’t all fun in the sun, retirees and experts caution. A weakening dollar, the obstacles of a foreign language and culture, and disconnection from family and friends can intrude on paradise. The Internet helps, however. Ubiquitous Web access aids planning and lets expatriates stay in touch with loved ones and up on current events.
It’s difficult to know how many U.S. retirees seek new lives overseas. Neither the Census Bureau nor the State Department break out numbers on such people. That makes Social Security figures the closest estimate. According to the Social Security Administration, 441,693 beneficiaries, or about 1 percent of those in the system, received benefits while abroad as of the end of 2005. The AARP points out, however, that these numbers do not take into account people who may live abroad but collect Social Security payments at a U.S. address.
The overseas dream takes many shapes. Here are three experiences in Panama, the Philippines and Britain.
Mary Strociek, 49, and her husband, Matt, 67, had their hearts set on retiring to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. They bought a condo there in the late 1980s, “when it was a quiet, sleepy village,” Mary Strociek said. But then others discovered the beauty of the area and the place boomed. “We decided to get out of there,” she said.
Avid sailors, they hopped on a friend’s 50-foot boat and cruised the Caribbean. They checked out all of the Virgin Islands, St. Martin and St. Bart, and yet were drawn back to Mexico.
Then they discovered Panama. The Strocieks were overwhelmed by the breathtaking sights. “It’s one of the few places I can see the curvature of the Earth,” Mary Strociek said of the view from her property, which she says looks out on nearly 300 miles of coastline.
Won over, the Strocieks sold their Chicago home and built a house near the mountain town of El Valle, where they now live, Mary explained in a phone interview from her pool. Two years ago, it cost the couple about $150,000 to buy their land and build a house, pool and bohio — a type of tropical gazebo. They’re now living debt-free and enjoying the perk of a newly built Panamanian abode: no property tax for 20 years.
The Strocieks are among many Americans who have settled in Panama for their retirement years. The Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, said in a report last year that the number of U.S. citizens receiving the kind of Panamanian visas most often used by retirees more than tripled between 2003 and 2005. The number issued in the first quarter of 2006 almost equals those given in all of 2003, said the report, which cited Panamanian statistics.
The institute found in focus groups with U.S.
seniors in Mexico and Panama that the lower cost of living was among the most attractive features for Americans. The natural beauty and a sense of community also ranked high.
“People felt like they had more interaction with people in their daily life than in the U.S.,” said Julia Gelatt, a research assistant who worked on the study.
Both the institute’s report and its interviews with retirees highlighted the importance of the Internet to seniors living abroad. Mary Strociek said she is constantly linked in thanks to the Web. She orders products online and regularly talks with family members, including the couple’s children and grandchildren, over the Internet.
The Strocieks also have tried to absorb themselves in the local community. They volunteer with Educacion Primero, a local nonprofit group whose work ranges from distributing donated shoes to teachers and hospital staff, to bringing in dentists to teach kids about dental hygiene, to installing fans and building a lunchroom for a school.
The main obstacles of life in Panama, Mary Strociek said, are the bureaucracy and the banking system. She said it took her a year and a half to get license plates for the car she brought from the States. She added, however, that she knows others who didn’t have difficulties.
She noted that although she lacks health insurance, the cost of medical care and prescriptions in Panama is a fraction of what she paid in the United States.
Sometimes retiring in a land far away is like going home again. Hans Groot was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines in the 1960s. After finishing his service Groot, 68, returned to the Southeast Asian nation many times as a “returned Peace Corps volunteer.” He was drawn back for winter retreats and various work assignments until finally he and his partner, Emmanuel “Noel” Reyes, 61, left behind their life in Lake Hopatcong, N.J. to retire to Manila in June with their dog, Nikko.
“It was sort of like a homecoming because we have so many friends all over the country and speak the language pretty well,” Groot said.
Groot is not only back at the location of his original Peace Corps tour, but he also plans to fill much of his time with volunteer work, in an effort to avoid becoming a couch potato in a tropical locale. He has been doing organizational work with Peace Corps Alumni Foundation for Philippine Development, a nonprofit group that gives college scholarships to low-income Filipino children. He also has been talking with the chancellor at the University of the Philippines at Los Banos about teaching a seminar or assisting the agricultural journalism department in some way. During his Peace Corps stint, Groot helped establish the department.
Living for now in a Manila condo, the pair is busy working to finalize plans for a three-bedroom home with a swimming pool and large tropical garden near the active Taal volcano. Groot estimates the project, including purchasing the property, will cost about $350,000, a fraction of the expense in the States.
Thanks to the lower cost of living and affordable real estate, the pair plans to buy and keep the condo in Manila.
Lower real estate costs can also translate into more disposable income for travel. From their perch in the Philippines, Groot and Reyes plan to take trips to China, Thailand and Burma.
Retired journalist Robert Lyle, 66, has what some might think is the best life possible for a beer lover. He and his wife, Mary, 64, a retired office manager, have been splitting their time between the East Coast and England’s Cornwall region for almost a decade.
Given Lyle’s responsibility when he’s in that part of Britain, it might seem remarkable he hasn’t yet retired there full time. He inspects pubs for the Campaign for Real Ale, a consumer group that works to preserve British non-gassed, hand-pumped beers. He reports on Cornish pubs’ overall quality and range of offerings for the group’s annual “Good Beer Guide,” and has contributed to other local beer guides.
Not a bad gig for retirement.
The Lyles’ half-year stints in Cornwall and the United States were supposed to be over by now, but their plans have fallen victim to global realities.
“The idea was to stop doing that at some point, but unfortunately the dollar has weakened over these years,” Robert said, making it necessary for the couple to rent out their home in the Cornish town of Fowey for half the year, in order to make some income in pounds.
Brett Hammond, head of investment strategy at money management firm TIAA-CREF, endorses such a tactic for Americans retiring overseas.
“You might want to invest some of your money locally” in a bank or certificate of deposit, Hammond said. Basically, “some local investment that provides income in local currency .¤.¤. to help smooth out bumps of currency” is critical, Hammond said.
The Lyles’ local investment has grown significantly since they bought their Cornwall home for about $250,000 in 2000. Robert Lyle estimates that their house’s value has nearly tripled in pounds, quadrupled in dollars, accounting for a weakening exchange rate.
Besides the traditional beer, the Lyles were drawn to that corner of Britain for its rich literary past, where writers, such as Daphne du Maurier and Kenneth Grahame (of “The Wind in the Willows”) have lived or vacationed. Both of Cornish descent, Robert and Mary also have strong social connections in the community, making the transition a fluid one. They’ve done extensive research on the area and are active in several local historical groups.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Photos courtesy of the families
RETIRE OVERSEAS: Boomers are finding that retirement overseas can provide new, and cheaper, lifestyles. Americans Robert and Mary Lyle, top, split their time between the United States and England; Hans Groot, right, traded life in New Jersey for the Philippines, and Mary and Matt Strociek, bottom, shown celebrating the Fourth of July in Panama, have retired to a place where the weather and cost of living are lower than their native Chicago.
With careful planning and lots of passion, some baby boomers are turning a dream of an overseas retirement into reality. They’re lured to distant climes on the promise of a higher quality of life. Often they discover a lower cost of living, stunning natural beauty and a sense of community.
But relocating overseas isn’t all fun in the sun, retirees and experts caution. A weakening dollar, the obstacles of a foreign language and culture, and disconnection from family and friends can intrude on paradise. The Internet helps, however. Ubiquitous Web access aids planning and lets expatriates stay in touch with loved ones and up on current events.
It’s difficult to know how many U.S. retirees seek new lives overseas. Neither the Census Bureau nor the State Department break out numbers on such people. That makes Social Security figures the closest estimate. According to the Social Security Administration, 441,693 beneficiaries, or about 1 percent of those in the system, received benefits while abroad as of the end of 2005. The AARP points out, however, that these numbers do not take into account people who may live abroad but collect Social Security payments at a U.S. address.
The overseas dream takes many shapes. Here are three experiences in Panama, the Philippines and Britain.
Mary Strociek, 49, and her husband, Matt, 67, had their hearts set on retiring to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. They bought a condo there in the late 1980s, “when it was a quiet, sleepy village,” Mary Strociek said. But then others discovered the beauty of the area and the place boomed. “We decided to get out of there,” she said.
Avid sailors, they hopped on a friend’s 50-foot boat and cruised the Caribbean. They checked out all of the Virgin Islands, St. Martin and St. Bart, and yet were drawn back to Mexico.
Then they discovered Panama. The Strocieks were overwhelmed by the breathtaking sights. “It’s one of the few places I can see the curvature of the Earth,” Mary Strociek said of the view from her property, which she says looks out on nearly 300 miles of coastline.
Won over, the Strocieks sold their Chicago home and built a house near the mountain town of El Valle, where they now live, Mary explained in a phone interview from her pool. Two years ago, it cost the couple about $150,000 to buy their land and build a house, pool and bohio — a type of tropical gazebo. They’re now living debt-free and enjoying the perk of a newly built Panamanian abode: no property tax for 20 years.
The Strocieks are among many Americans who have settled in Panama for their retirement years. The Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, said in a report last year that the number of U.S. citizens receiving the kind of Panamanian visas most often used by retirees more than tripled between 2003 and 2005. The number issued in the first quarter of 2006 almost equals those given in all of 2003, said the report, which cited Panamanian statistics.
The institute found in focus groups with U.S.
seniors in Mexico and Panama that the lower cost of living was among the most attractive features for Americans. The natural beauty and a sense of community also ranked high.
“People felt like they had more interaction with people in their daily life than in the U.S.,” said Julia Gelatt, a research assistant who worked on the study.
Both the institute’s report and its interviews with retirees highlighted the importance of the Internet to seniors living abroad. Mary Strociek said she is constantly linked in thanks to the Web. She orders products online and regularly talks with family members, including the couple’s children and grandchildren, over the Internet.
The Strocieks also have tried to absorb themselves in the local community. They volunteer with Educacion Primero, a local nonprofit group whose work ranges from distributing donated shoes to teachers and hospital staff, to bringing in dentists to teach kids about dental hygiene, to installing fans and building a lunchroom for a school.
The main obstacles of life in Panama, Mary Strociek said, are the bureaucracy and the banking system. She said it took her a year and a half to get license plates for the car she brought from the States. She added, however, that she knows others who didn’t have difficulties.
She noted that although she lacks health insurance, the cost of medical care and prescriptions in Panama is a fraction of what she paid in the United States.
Sometimes retiring in a land far away is like going home again. Hans Groot was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines in the 1960s. After finishing his service Groot, 68, returned to the Southeast Asian nation many times as a “returned Peace Corps volunteer.” He was drawn back for winter retreats and various work assignments until finally he and his partner, Emmanuel “Noel” Reyes, 61, left behind their life in Lake Hopatcong, N.J. to retire to Manila in June with their dog, Nikko.
“It was sort of like a homecoming because we have so many friends all over the country and speak the language pretty well,” Groot said.
Groot is not only back at the location of his original Peace Corps tour, but he also plans to fill much of his time with volunteer work, in an effort to avoid becoming a couch potato in a tropical locale. He has been doing organizational work with Peace Corps Alumni Foundation for Philippine Development, a nonprofit group that gives college scholarships to low-income Filipino children. He also has been talking with the chancellor at the University of the Philippines at Los Banos about teaching a seminar or assisting the agricultural journalism department in some way. During his Peace Corps stint, Groot helped establish the department.
Living for now in a Manila condo, the pair is busy working to finalize plans for a three-bedroom home with a swimming pool and large tropical garden near the active Taal volcano. Groot estimates the project, including purchasing the property, will cost about $350,000, a fraction of the expense in the States.
Thanks to the lower cost of living and affordable real estate, the pair plans to buy and keep the condo in Manila.
Lower real estate costs can also translate into more disposable income for travel. From their perch in the Philippines, Groot and Reyes plan to take trips to China, Thailand and Burma.
Retired journalist Robert Lyle, 66, has what some might think is the best life possible for a beer lover. He and his wife, Mary, 64, a retired office manager, have been splitting their time between the East Coast and England’s Cornwall region for almost a decade.
Given Lyle’s responsibility when he’s in that part of Britain, it might seem remarkable he hasn’t yet retired there full time. He inspects pubs for the Campaign for Real Ale, a consumer group that works to preserve British non-gassed, hand-pumped beers. He reports on Cornish pubs’ overall quality and range of offerings for the group’s annual “Good Beer Guide,” and has contributed to other local beer guides.
Not a bad gig for retirement.
The Lyles’ half-year stints in Cornwall and the United States were supposed to be over by now, but their plans have fallen victim to global realities.
“The idea was to stop doing that at some point, but unfortunately the dollar has weakened over these years,” Robert said, making it necessary for the couple to rent out their home in the Cornish town of Fowey for half the year, in order to make some income in pounds.
Brett Hammond, head of investment strategy at money management firm TIAA-CREF, endorses such a tactic for Americans retiring overseas.
“You might want to invest some of your money locally” in a bank or certificate of deposit, Hammond said. Basically, “some local investment that provides income in local currency .¤.¤. to help smooth out bumps of currency” is critical, Hammond said.
The Lyles’ local investment has grown significantly since they bought their Cornwall home for about $250,000 in 2000. Robert Lyle estimates that their house’s value has nearly tripled in pounds, quadrupled in dollars, accounting for a weakening exchange rate.
Besides the traditional beer, the Lyles were drawn to that corner of Britain for its rich literary past, where writers, such as Daphne du Maurier and Kenneth Grahame (of “The Wind in the Willows”) have lived or vacationed. Both of Cornish descent, Robert and Mary also have strong social connections in the community, making the transition a fluid one. They’ve done extensive research on the area and are active in several local historical groups.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Investment Opportunities in Panama
Published on: Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Written by: Trista Winnie
Panama has a variety of investment opportunities, including a burgeoning condo market in Panama City, miles of untouched beaches on the Caribbean coast and everything in between. While some markets are poised to become overbuilt, others are still full of long-term promise.
Real estate investors can choose anything from unspoiled beachfront property to downtown high rise condos. Other investments, such as businesses in the tourism and service sectors, could be promising because of Panama's steadily increasing tourism industry.
In addition, many baby boomers, looking to stretch their retirement money and still enjoy a traditional retirement lifestyle, are moving to places both sunny and inexpensive. Panama draws many American retirees because of its proximity to the U.S. and the incentive programs it offers to retirees, such as tax exemptions and deferrals and discounts for entertainment and travel, among other things.
Panama investors can choose from beachfront real estate to downtown condosFurther, Panama City's reputation as a business center is gaining steam, and the city has begun to draw multinational corporations to the area.
Market
Interest in Panama's real estate market started "in the interior [of the country], where you look at places like Bocas del Toro and you look at places like Boquete, which were initially…destination locations that were hyped for their beautiful climate, low cost of living, cheap land" and other features, Matt Landau, founder and CEO of The Panama Report and a real estate consultant based in Panama City, said.
But "real estate prices have accelerated, particularly in the last two years," Lyle Burke, founder of TropicalPathways.com, an investment discovery tour company, said. "There are still many good buys…many good investment opportunities, but of course, like any other emerging market, prices are coming up."
For lots on the Pacific, "you're around $200,000 and for a house, you're probably up around $500,000," Jeff Duda of Panama Casa, a property management company, said. "If you compare it to Florida, it's still pretty cheap."
"I don't know where in Miami you can buy a 200 square meter condo overlooking the ocean for $200,000 or $300,000," Landau said.
Prices are also rising because Panama's international profile is increasing. Many multinational corporations now have locations in Panama. Panama is "a high-end business sector," and many multinational banks and law offices have set up operations in Panama, Burke said.
Panama's convenient location and infrastructure attract U.S. investors"Panama City is very much a business center of Central America," Duda said. "It is…the New York or Hong Kong of Central America."
"From a business perspective, this country is going to boom quite a ways [into] the future," he said. "The Latin American country group is one of your fastest growing economies in the world right now."
This increased business activity is part of the reason why much of the focus of the real estate market has trended away from the interior of the country and become concentrated on Panama City itself.
"The transition over the past five years has gone mainly toward Panama City," Landau said. The real estate market has trended "more toward the city; it's been less toward land."
Panama's real estate market "has been growing exponentially for the last three years," Lucia Haines, director of Panama Realtor in Panama City, said. "I see this interest increasing."
Opportunities
There are a variety of opportunities available for those interested in investing in Panama. Most of the opportunities are real estate investments, but there are opportunities in service and tourism related industries as well.
Real estate investments on the beach are popular, with resorts seeing more overall success than individual houses, Duda said. Also, investors should remember that "the beach areas…are very seasonal, whereas in the city, you have demand all year round," he said.
Service and tourism businesses, such as restaurants and tour services, are investments that can benefit from retirees, tourists staying in Panama—either in resorts or individual houses—and those stopping through Panama on a cruise. The increasing number of cruise ships stopping at Panamanian ports could be a huge boon for those interested in making service and tourism related investments.
For those interested, Panama still has a lot of beachfront property available. "Panama has dual coasts—Pacific and Caribbean sides—and a lot of real estate for development," Burke said. "For example, the Caribbean…is hardly touched at all."
A brick-paved street in Casco Viejo, courtesy of Matt LandauAbout 75 percent of the Caribbean coast is undeveloped, with mile after mile of pristine beaches, Burke said. "For growth in the next 20 years in Panama, I think you're going to see sector growth there in tourism and…all forms of, certainly, real estate based investments."
Investment opportunities in cities, particularly Panama City, tend to be geared toward businesspeople rather than tourists. "The business executive group is big on the short-term rentals. There's a big demand for that," Duda said.
One notable businessperson investing in Panama is Donald Trump. "Trump announced less than a year ago that they're building a tower in downtown Panama City," Burke said. "It's probably three quarters sold out at this point, but that certainly attracted a lot of attention."
Short-term, full-service rentals are popular among those who travel to Panama, many of whom stay for one to six months, Duda said. "They like to have a place that's almost like a hotel."
"On the short-term rentals, we're basically 100 percent full," Duda said. "We actually turn people away because we actually have more demand than we have supply for the quality short-term rental that's well located."
The location and the style of the rental itself are both important components in terms of determining a place's success.
Investors interested in buying property in a city with the intention of renting should keep in mind that, "for purely a rental sense, the downtown areas are probably the best," Duda said.
Investors should also be aware, however, that some have already taken note of the opportunities available in Panama City and that the city is subject to the risk of overbuilding.
"To date, what's worked is flipping. People who have bought condos in Panama City while that demand was way up there and the supply was still far below [were] buying their condos and flipping them in what amounts to no time—six months, a year," Landau said. "But this was back two, three, four years ago, when condo buildings were just getting built."
Panama contains affordable beachfront properties"The supply is nearing demand in Panama City," he said. This building boom has put Panama City's condo market at risk of overbuilding, which would mean a drop in prices. Overbuilding in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix has led to a correction in those markets through falling prices. (For more on this trend, read our article on overbuilt markets.)
"Their skyline is full of new development," Burke said.
Those who want proximity to Panama City without being in it will likely be intrigued by a development being constructed directly across the canal from Panama City in the complex of the old Howard Air Force Base, which was decommissioned in 2000.
"There are plans for a $700 million mixed residential project. It will have high-end hotels, residential of all kinds, golf courses, shopping malls—it'll have it all," Burke said. "I expect probably to see some actual presale opportunities coming up early next year."
Foreign investors
Panama, having witnessed Costa Rica's success, is following in its footsteps by actively catering to foreign investors.
"Most major banks will provide financing for foreigners," Haines said. "They'll finance up to 80 percent, generally."
"90 percent of the real estate on the market is freehold," Burke said. "You don't have to live in Panama to own it. You have all the rights, the same as a Panamanian citizen."
"Foreigners do have protection," Haines said. "They've got the same rights as locals when it comes to purchasing and owning title property."
Further, "title here is fee simple. Once you own the title, it's yours," Haines said. "Unless you obtain that land through arms trading, drug trading or people trading, nobody can take it from you." She said that title insurance is available and recommended "for peace of mind," however.
"For property insurance, it's usually pretty inexpensive in comparison to other countries, such as the United States," Haines said. "Panama doesn't have any real natural disasters."
Investors concerned about complications of leaving their property to their heirs can set up a Panamanian corporation to hold it, Burke said. "The cost [of setting up a corporation] is around $1,200," he said. "If something happens to you and your heirs go to Panama to clear up the legal work, to transfer the property to them, if it is in your name, then it's a long probate process. [Panama's] bureaucracy is slow and cumbersome. If you have it in a corporation, it's a very simple process" to transfer the property.
Panama City's skyline is full of new development"Business visas are also available for investors, who can put $200,000 in a Panamanian bank account "and then you can work and conduct business in Panama like a Panamanian," Burke said. "They allow you to use the money as a mortgage, if you will, for real estate that you buy, or as a guarantor."
Real estate agents receive a pretty standard commission in Panama. "Commissions are generally between 3 to 5 percent of the sales price," Haines said.
Haines recommended that foreign investors take advantage of property management services, which "do everything from overseeing construction to managing properties for rental....Usually the property managers will charge anywhere from 10 to 30 percent to manage the properties."
While Haines said that the investment process in Panama is simple and straightforward, she also recommended that investors work with an attorney. "It's always a good idea to have somebody looking out for your interests, especially for first-time buyers."
Part of the reason for Haines' recommendation is the fact that "Panama is a small country, and a lot of making it here successfully is…making good contacts," Haines said. "Attorneys are often a good point to start those contacts."
Good contacts are important because "real estate in Panama is not quite as organized as it is in the United States," she said. "We don't have a multiple listing [service] so what we do instead is…form networks."
Another important reason for investors to make good contacts with trusted advisors is that more and more people in Panama want their share—or more—of the boom that is going on in the country.
"You'll find a piece of property that you're very interested in, and your real estate agent will tell you it's $2 million, when in reality, the farmer told him that it was $1 million—meaning that the real estate agent is banking $1 million on the deal," Landau said.
To be certain that they are not overpaying for property or being swindled in some other fashion, investors should find trustworthy people who can go through the details of a deal with them and work with their best interests in mind.
Rural properties in Panama are increasing in popularity"That's a very tricky thing, especially if [Spanish] is not your language," Landau said.
Landau also stressed the idea of verifying all aspects of a deal before going through with any of it because "it's very hard to sue in Panama." Some people have invested in bad deals, he said, and not been able to get their money back.
Outlook
Panama is easily accessible for Americans, both in terms of its proximity to the U.S. and its dollar economy. Its infrastructure bests much of the rest of Central America, and its great weather, beaches and attractions are bringing increasing numbers of tourists and retirees to the country. For all of these reasons, it is also attracting a lot of foreign investors, who can benefit from the tax deferrals and exemptions offered to them.
"The allure is that it's very, very new, and people are getting in way ahead of the boom," Landau said. He cautioned investors to do research before investing rather than getting caught up in the hype about Panama. "A lot of it is very, very well founded," he said. "A lot of it is not."
Because of the hype, Panama has increased in popularity with investors. There is a boom going on, and, as the U.S. housing market proves, those do not last forever. As a result, there are some markets within the country that are at risk of overbuilding. These markets will likely face corrections in the coming years. Investors might be wise to wait to purchase property during the correction, when prices will have dropped.
Still, "this is a great opportunity and time to be investing in Panama, or to be looking at that possibility," Burke said. "My opinion is it's still in the first 20, 25 percent of the growth curve."
Written by: Trista Winnie
Panama has a variety of investment opportunities, including a burgeoning condo market in Panama City, miles of untouched beaches on the Caribbean coast and everything in between. While some markets are poised to become overbuilt, others are still full of long-term promise.
Real estate investors can choose anything from unspoiled beachfront property to downtown high rise condos. Other investments, such as businesses in the tourism and service sectors, could be promising because of Panama's steadily increasing tourism industry.
In addition, many baby boomers, looking to stretch their retirement money and still enjoy a traditional retirement lifestyle, are moving to places both sunny and inexpensive. Panama draws many American retirees because of its proximity to the U.S. and the incentive programs it offers to retirees, such as tax exemptions and deferrals and discounts for entertainment and travel, among other things.
Panama investors can choose from beachfront real estate to downtown condosFurther, Panama City's reputation as a business center is gaining steam, and the city has begun to draw multinational corporations to the area.
Market
Interest in Panama's real estate market started "in the interior [of the country], where you look at places like Bocas del Toro and you look at places like Boquete, which were initially…destination locations that were hyped for their beautiful climate, low cost of living, cheap land" and other features, Matt Landau, founder and CEO of The Panama Report and a real estate consultant based in Panama City, said.
But "real estate prices have accelerated, particularly in the last two years," Lyle Burke, founder of TropicalPathways.com, an investment discovery tour company, said. "There are still many good buys…many good investment opportunities, but of course, like any other emerging market, prices are coming up."
For lots on the Pacific, "you're around $200,000 and for a house, you're probably up around $500,000," Jeff Duda of Panama Casa, a property management company, said. "If you compare it to Florida, it's still pretty cheap."
"I don't know where in Miami you can buy a 200 square meter condo overlooking the ocean for $200,000 or $300,000," Landau said.
Prices are also rising because Panama's international profile is increasing. Many multinational corporations now have locations in Panama. Panama is "a high-end business sector," and many multinational banks and law offices have set up operations in Panama, Burke said.
Panama's convenient location and infrastructure attract U.S. investors"Panama City is very much a business center of Central America," Duda said. "It is…the New York or Hong Kong of Central America."
"From a business perspective, this country is going to boom quite a ways [into] the future," he said. "The Latin American country group is one of your fastest growing economies in the world right now."
This increased business activity is part of the reason why much of the focus of the real estate market has trended away from the interior of the country and become concentrated on Panama City itself.
"The transition over the past five years has gone mainly toward Panama City," Landau said. The real estate market has trended "more toward the city; it's been less toward land."
Panama's real estate market "has been growing exponentially for the last three years," Lucia Haines, director of Panama Realtor in Panama City, said. "I see this interest increasing."
Opportunities
There are a variety of opportunities available for those interested in investing in Panama. Most of the opportunities are real estate investments, but there are opportunities in service and tourism related industries as well.
Real estate investments on the beach are popular, with resorts seeing more overall success than individual houses, Duda said. Also, investors should remember that "the beach areas…are very seasonal, whereas in the city, you have demand all year round," he said.
Service and tourism businesses, such as restaurants and tour services, are investments that can benefit from retirees, tourists staying in Panama—either in resorts or individual houses—and those stopping through Panama on a cruise. The increasing number of cruise ships stopping at Panamanian ports could be a huge boon for those interested in making service and tourism related investments.
For those interested, Panama still has a lot of beachfront property available. "Panama has dual coasts—Pacific and Caribbean sides—and a lot of real estate for development," Burke said. "For example, the Caribbean…is hardly touched at all."
A brick-paved street in Casco Viejo, courtesy of Matt LandauAbout 75 percent of the Caribbean coast is undeveloped, with mile after mile of pristine beaches, Burke said. "For growth in the next 20 years in Panama, I think you're going to see sector growth there in tourism and…all forms of, certainly, real estate based investments."
Investment opportunities in cities, particularly Panama City, tend to be geared toward businesspeople rather than tourists. "The business executive group is big on the short-term rentals. There's a big demand for that," Duda said.
One notable businessperson investing in Panama is Donald Trump. "Trump announced less than a year ago that they're building a tower in downtown Panama City," Burke said. "It's probably three quarters sold out at this point, but that certainly attracted a lot of attention."
Short-term, full-service rentals are popular among those who travel to Panama, many of whom stay for one to six months, Duda said. "They like to have a place that's almost like a hotel."
"On the short-term rentals, we're basically 100 percent full," Duda said. "We actually turn people away because we actually have more demand than we have supply for the quality short-term rental that's well located."
The location and the style of the rental itself are both important components in terms of determining a place's success.
Investors interested in buying property in a city with the intention of renting should keep in mind that, "for purely a rental sense, the downtown areas are probably the best," Duda said.
Investors should also be aware, however, that some have already taken note of the opportunities available in Panama City and that the city is subject to the risk of overbuilding.
"To date, what's worked is flipping. People who have bought condos in Panama City while that demand was way up there and the supply was still far below [were] buying their condos and flipping them in what amounts to no time—six months, a year," Landau said. "But this was back two, three, four years ago, when condo buildings were just getting built."
Panama contains affordable beachfront properties"The supply is nearing demand in Panama City," he said. This building boom has put Panama City's condo market at risk of overbuilding, which would mean a drop in prices. Overbuilding in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix has led to a correction in those markets through falling prices. (For more on this trend, read our article on overbuilt markets.)
"Their skyline is full of new development," Burke said.
Those who want proximity to Panama City without being in it will likely be intrigued by a development being constructed directly across the canal from Panama City in the complex of the old Howard Air Force Base, which was decommissioned in 2000.
"There are plans for a $700 million mixed residential project. It will have high-end hotels, residential of all kinds, golf courses, shopping malls—it'll have it all," Burke said. "I expect probably to see some actual presale opportunities coming up early next year."
Foreign investors
Panama, having witnessed Costa Rica's success, is following in its footsteps by actively catering to foreign investors.
"Most major banks will provide financing for foreigners," Haines said. "They'll finance up to 80 percent, generally."
"90 percent of the real estate on the market is freehold," Burke said. "You don't have to live in Panama to own it. You have all the rights, the same as a Panamanian citizen."
"Foreigners do have protection," Haines said. "They've got the same rights as locals when it comes to purchasing and owning title property."
Further, "title here is fee simple. Once you own the title, it's yours," Haines said. "Unless you obtain that land through arms trading, drug trading or people trading, nobody can take it from you." She said that title insurance is available and recommended "for peace of mind," however.
"For property insurance, it's usually pretty inexpensive in comparison to other countries, such as the United States," Haines said. "Panama doesn't have any real natural disasters."
Investors concerned about complications of leaving their property to their heirs can set up a Panamanian corporation to hold it, Burke said. "The cost [of setting up a corporation] is around $1,200," he said. "If something happens to you and your heirs go to Panama to clear up the legal work, to transfer the property to them, if it is in your name, then it's a long probate process. [Panama's] bureaucracy is slow and cumbersome. If you have it in a corporation, it's a very simple process" to transfer the property.
Panama City's skyline is full of new development"Business visas are also available for investors, who can put $200,000 in a Panamanian bank account "and then you can work and conduct business in Panama like a Panamanian," Burke said. "They allow you to use the money as a mortgage, if you will, for real estate that you buy, or as a guarantor."
Real estate agents receive a pretty standard commission in Panama. "Commissions are generally between 3 to 5 percent of the sales price," Haines said.
Haines recommended that foreign investors take advantage of property management services, which "do everything from overseeing construction to managing properties for rental....Usually the property managers will charge anywhere from 10 to 30 percent to manage the properties."
While Haines said that the investment process in Panama is simple and straightforward, she also recommended that investors work with an attorney. "It's always a good idea to have somebody looking out for your interests, especially for first-time buyers."
Part of the reason for Haines' recommendation is the fact that "Panama is a small country, and a lot of making it here successfully is…making good contacts," Haines said. "Attorneys are often a good point to start those contacts."
Good contacts are important because "real estate in Panama is not quite as organized as it is in the United States," she said. "We don't have a multiple listing [service] so what we do instead is…form networks."
Another important reason for investors to make good contacts with trusted advisors is that more and more people in Panama want their share—or more—of the boom that is going on in the country.
"You'll find a piece of property that you're very interested in, and your real estate agent will tell you it's $2 million, when in reality, the farmer told him that it was $1 million—meaning that the real estate agent is banking $1 million on the deal," Landau said.
To be certain that they are not overpaying for property or being swindled in some other fashion, investors should find trustworthy people who can go through the details of a deal with them and work with their best interests in mind.
Rural properties in Panama are increasing in popularity"That's a very tricky thing, especially if [Spanish] is not your language," Landau said.
Landau also stressed the idea of verifying all aspects of a deal before going through with any of it because "it's very hard to sue in Panama." Some people have invested in bad deals, he said, and not been able to get their money back.
Outlook
Panama is easily accessible for Americans, both in terms of its proximity to the U.S. and its dollar economy. Its infrastructure bests much of the rest of Central America, and its great weather, beaches and attractions are bringing increasing numbers of tourists and retirees to the country. For all of these reasons, it is also attracting a lot of foreign investors, who can benefit from the tax deferrals and exemptions offered to them.
"The allure is that it's very, very new, and people are getting in way ahead of the boom," Landau said. He cautioned investors to do research before investing rather than getting caught up in the hype about Panama. "A lot of it is very, very well founded," he said. "A lot of it is not."
Because of the hype, Panama has increased in popularity with investors. There is a boom going on, and, as the U.S. housing market proves, those do not last forever. As a result, there are some markets within the country that are at risk of overbuilding. These markets will likely face corrections in the coming years. Investors might be wise to wait to purchase property during the correction, when prices will have dropped.
Still, "this is a great opportunity and time to be investing in Panama, or to be looking at that possibility," Burke said. "My opinion is it's still in the first 20, 25 percent of the growth curve."
Florida International University to offer MBA program in Panama
Program to serve professionals in growing economy
By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 27, 2007
Florida International University is starting a master's in business administration program in Panama to help train more professionals in Latin America's fastest-growing economy, Jose de la Torre, dean of FIU's business school announced Wednesday.
The MBA for working professionals is set to start in April in Panama City's financial district and initially include 50 students. About one-third are expected from Panama's international banks and about one-third from multinational companies expanding in the Central American nation of 3 million people, de la Torre told a breakfast panel on Panama organized by Coral Gables-based media company WorldCity Inc.
FIU operates similar MBA programs in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, which involve faculty from South Florida that fly to the nearby nations to teach. The Panama project will operate with logistical help from Panama's private Quality Leadership University.
The program comes as Panama posts growth rates similar to China and India, topping 9 percent in the first half this year and 8 percent in 2006. Economists predict growth will exceed 8 percent annually for the next several years, according to private and government reports.
Spurring the boom: foreign direct investment in a wide range of industries, from Americans buying retirement homes to Chinese companies expanding seaports.
Foreign direct investment to Panama grew 19.4 percent to $598 million in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year. The Colon Free Trade Zone, the world's second-largest import-export park, and Panama's banking industry attracted the most: $181 million and $138 million respectively in the half, according to Panama's comptroller general.
Among multinationals now investing in Panama is MasterCard, which runs Latin American operations from South Florida. The financial giant just opened an office in Panama City, its first in Central America, executives said.
Shipping giant Maersk Line is launching a program this month that boosts Panama's role as an ocean-air transport hub for fruit, fish and other perishables produced in Latin America. The project will take perishables by ship to Panama, then fly them out to Miami and other airports in the United States and beyond, said Fernando Cascante, general manger of Maersk's refrigerated products development group in Miami.
By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 27, 2007
Florida International University is starting a master's in business administration program in Panama to help train more professionals in Latin America's fastest-growing economy, Jose de la Torre, dean of FIU's business school announced Wednesday.
The MBA for working professionals is set to start in April in Panama City's financial district and initially include 50 students. About one-third are expected from Panama's international banks and about one-third from multinational companies expanding in the Central American nation of 3 million people, de la Torre told a breakfast panel on Panama organized by Coral Gables-based media company WorldCity Inc.
FIU operates similar MBA programs in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, which involve faculty from South Florida that fly to the nearby nations to teach. The Panama project will operate with logistical help from Panama's private Quality Leadership University.
The program comes as Panama posts growth rates similar to China and India, topping 9 percent in the first half this year and 8 percent in 2006. Economists predict growth will exceed 8 percent annually for the next several years, according to private and government reports.
Spurring the boom: foreign direct investment in a wide range of industries, from Americans buying retirement homes to Chinese companies expanding seaports.
Foreign direct investment to Panama grew 19.4 percent to $598 million in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year. The Colon Free Trade Zone, the world's second-largest import-export park, and Panama's banking industry attracted the most: $181 million and $138 million respectively in the half, according to Panama's comptroller general.
Among multinationals now investing in Panama is MasterCard, which runs Latin American operations from South Florida. The financial giant just opened an office in Panama City, its first in Central America, executives said.
Shipping giant Maersk Line is launching a program this month that boosts Panama's role as an ocean-air transport hub for fruit, fish and other perishables produced in Latin America. The project will take perishables by ship to Panama, then fly them out to Miami and other airports in the United States and beyond, said Fernando Cascante, general manger of Maersk's refrigerated products development group in Miami.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Uninsured Americans traveling to Panama for health care
U.S. residents are trimming exorbitant medical bills by visiting Panama clinics
By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 23, 2007
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Americans are traveling abroad for medical care like never before and now looking to Panama as a destination to cure their insurance woes, high prices and delaysfor treatment back home.
This Central American nation touts U.S.-trained doctors, high-tech hospitals and costs far below U.S. rates to attract Americans for services from dental implants to hip replacements. It also promotes its location near U.S. shores.
"In the beginning of medical tourism, Americans went to distant places like Thailand and India. It seems logical the next step would be Latin America — closer to the United States and more similar in culture," said Panamanian dentist Richard Ford, who studied at Louisiana State University and leads a medical tourism group, Pana-Health.
So far, Panama attracts only hundreds of U.S. patients a year, doctors estimate, but the potential for growth is huge.
With roughly 47 million Americans lacking health insurance, millions more underinsured and U.S. health care costs skyrocketing, many can no longer afford medical care in the United States.
About half a million Americans traveled overseas for more affordable health care in 2006. And that number is rising at double-digit rates, spurred by easier travel, Internet communications and a growing support network from health travel agencies to blogs, according to the recently formed Medical Tourism Association in West Palm Beach.
U.S. employers are starting to catch on. Some now provide health insurance that covers workers who get medical care abroad. United Group Programs of Boca Raton, for instance, offers the coverage to help employers trim rising health costs for their workers, according to tourism association reports.
Hospitals worldwide are vying for the surging business, too. Many seek certifications to boost their allure for Americans and other foreign patients. The Joint Commission International, an arm of the nonprofit group that accredits U.S. hospitals, accredited more than 120 hospitals from Brazil to Turkey in the past few years. And it just opened offices in the Middle East and Asia to handle rising requests.
At least one hospital in Panama is seeking the commission's accreditation: the year-old Punta Pacifica Hospital affiliated with the prestigious Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore. The 65-bed Punta Pacifica expects international patients to account for as much as 80 percent of its business within several years, up from 30 percent today, chief medical director Rolando Bissot said.
Visitors at the new hospital get high-tech attention. In the lobby, patients can use a computer touch-screen to check in, either in English or Spanish. New medical equipment, mainly from General Electric, includes a "4-D"sonogram, so pregnant women can take home a DVD that shows their unborn child moving, rather than a photograph.
Americans aren't the only foreigners checking in.
With U.S. entry visas harder to get since Sept. 11, 2001, some patients from Latin America and the Caribbean who might have sought care in South Florida are turning to Panama.
"The problems with visas in the United States have turned out to be a benefit for us," said Pana-Health's Ford.
Panama revved up its marketing for American patients in 2003 when about a dozen U.S.-trained doctors joined with a local travel agency to promote their services internationally. The doctors formed a review committee to vet credentials of applicants and since then have expanded to about 100 professionals. Inquiries to their Web site are rising by about 30 percent a year, Ford said.
Most Americans contacting the group are older than 40, not Hispanic and lack insurance for their medical procedures. Those who come to Panama generally travel with a friend or relative and stay about a week. Most pay cash for treatments that range from face lifts to in-vitro fertilization. Doctors' fees tend to run about half the cost and hospital stays 80 percent less than U.S. rates, Ford said.
"Other countries may be cheaper, but we offer state-of-the-art equipment and care," said Ford, his BlackBerry device near his computer.
Many Americans living in Panama laud the quality of Panama's top doctors, even bringing their U.S. relatives down for treatment.
Lauretta Bonfiglio, a U.S. restaurateur who relocated to the mountain town of Boquete, recently helped her mother from Montana get a root canal. U.S. dentists had turned down the treatment, citing her mother's age as complicating insurance coverage. Bonfiglio made arrangements with a dentist in Panama and paid $250, far less than a root canal would cost in the states.
In Panama City, retiree Catherine McCabe said she found an able replacement for the dental specialist she had used in Beverly Hills, Calif. She's thrilled with the diabetes care her husband receives. Four specialists attended to him for more than two hours recently. And she's delighted to routinely receive the cell-phone and home numbers of her Panamanian doctors, who will make house calls if needed.
"You're not a number. They look you in the eye and care about you as an individual," she said. "I don't find that in U.S. health care."
Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.
Find video interviews with retiree Catherine McCabe and Dr. Richard Ford along with scenes from inside Punta Pacifica Hospital.
Sun-Sentinel
By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 23, 2007
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Americans are traveling abroad for medical care like never before and now looking to Panama as a destination to cure their insurance woes, high prices and delaysfor treatment back home.
This Central American nation touts U.S.-trained doctors, high-tech hospitals and costs far below U.S. rates to attract Americans for services from dental implants to hip replacements. It also promotes its location near U.S. shores.
"In the beginning of medical tourism, Americans went to distant places like Thailand and India. It seems logical the next step would be Latin America — closer to the United States and more similar in culture," said Panamanian dentist Richard Ford, who studied at Louisiana State University and leads a medical tourism group, Pana-Health.
So far, Panama attracts only hundreds of U.S. patients a year, doctors estimate, but the potential for growth is huge.
With roughly 47 million Americans lacking health insurance, millions more underinsured and U.S. health care costs skyrocketing, many can no longer afford medical care in the United States.
About half a million Americans traveled overseas for more affordable health care in 2006. And that number is rising at double-digit rates, spurred by easier travel, Internet communications and a growing support network from health travel agencies to blogs, according to the recently formed Medical Tourism Association in West Palm Beach.
U.S. employers are starting to catch on. Some now provide health insurance that covers workers who get medical care abroad. United Group Programs of Boca Raton, for instance, offers the coverage to help employers trim rising health costs for their workers, according to tourism association reports.
Hospitals worldwide are vying for the surging business, too. Many seek certifications to boost their allure for Americans and other foreign patients. The Joint Commission International, an arm of the nonprofit group that accredits U.S. hospitals, accredited more than 120 hospitals from Brazil to Turkey in the past few years. And it just opened offices in the Middle East and Asia to handle rising requests.
At least one hospital in Panama is seeking the commission's accreditation: the year-old Punta Pacifica Hospital affiliated with the prestigious Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore. The 65-bed Punta Pacifica expects international patients to account for as much as 80 percent of its business within several years, up from 30 percent today, chief medical director Rolando Bissot said.
Visitors at the new hospital get high-tech attention. In the lobby, patients can use a computer touch-screen to check in, either in English or Spanish. New medical equipment, mainly from General Electric, includes a "4-D"sonogram, so pregnant women can take home a DVD that shows their unborn child moving, rather than a photograph.
Americans aren't the only foreigners checking in.
With U.S. entry visas harder to get since Sept. 11, 2001, some patients from Latin America and the Caribbean who might have sought care in South Florida are turning to Panama.
"The problems with visas in the United States have turned out to be a benefit for us," said Pana-Health's Ford.
Panama revved up its marketing for American patients in 2003 when about a dozen U.S.-trained doctors joined with a local travel agency to promote their services internationally. The doctors formed a review committee to vet credentials of applicants and since then have expanded to about 100 professionals. Inquiries to their Web site are rising by about 30 percent a year, Ford said.
Most Americans contacting the group are older than 40, not Hispanic and lack insurance for their medical procedures. Those who come to Panama generally travel with a friend or relative and stay about a week. Most pay cash for treatments that range from face lifts to in-vitro fertilization. Doctors' fees tend to run about half the cost and hospital stays 80 percent less than U.S. rates, Ford said.
"Other countries may be cheaper, but we offer state-of-the-art equipment and care," said Ford, his BlackBerry device near his computer.
Many Americans living in Panama laud the quality of Panama's top doctors, even bringing their U.S. relatives down for treatment.
Lauretta Bonfiglio, a U.S. restaurateur who relocated to the mountain town of Boquete, recently helped her mother from Montana get a root canal. U.S. dentists had turned down the treatment, citing her mother's age as complicating insurance coverage. Bonfiglio made arrangements with a dentist in Panama and paid $250, far less than a root canal would cost in the states.
In Panama City, retiree Catherine McCabe said she found an able replacement for the dental specialist she had used in Beverly Hills, Calif. She's thrilled with the diabetes care her husband receives. Four specialists attended to him for more than two hours recently. And she's delighted to routinely receive the cell-phone and home numbers of her Panamanian doctors, who will make house calls if needed.
"You're not a number. They look you in the eye and care about you as an individual," she said. "I don't find that in U.S. health care."
Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.
Find video interviews with retiree Catherine McCabe and Dr. Richard Ford along with scenes from inside Punta Pacifica Hospital.
Sun-Sentinel
A New Life in Panama?
By BOB ADAMS
IT WAS JANUARY OF 2006 AND COLEY WAS 39. He had written and asked if he and his friend Jon could talk to me about their idea of setting up an investment operation in Panama to work the Central American region on behalf of U.S. investors. So there I was sitting in a local restaurant, surprised that two young professionals with young families were seriously thinking of quitting their well-paid positions in the U.S. to start a business a few thousand miles away. Today, they are the owners of Latin American Venture Partners, successfully living with their families and working from their offices in Panama.
I've lived and worked overseas for four decades and have traveled to more than forty nations. My interest in moving to Panama was not related to retirement, though some retirement Websites that focus on Panama introduced me to the country.
After visiting and getting to know Panama, I appreciated that most of these Websites provided very little real information. So I set up my own Website, RetirementWave.com, to offer a view of the country without any commercial motivation. I saw it as a simple public service and I didn't waste any money promoting it.
I would have been happy to help a few dozen people get a clearer idea of the country; 200,000 visitors and 2,700 members later, I find myself with an unpaid job that takes a lot more of my attention than I ever imagined. The real surprise, though, is that more than 20% of my "Retirement Wave" members are in their 20s, 30s and 40s. They are not thinking in terms of retirement. They are interested in relocating to or investing in Panama.
They are part of a silent emigration of Americans, retirees and more, seeking to live and work in other nations -- and not just the wealthy nations of Europe.
How many? A State Department survey of its embassies and consulates in 1999 suggested a total of 4.1 million Americans living overseas at that point, but there's little good data. So my company, New Global Initiatives Inc., hired Zogby International to do surveys of adult Americans on the subject of relocation outside the U.S. With more than 115,000 respondents, we have the largest and, as far as we know, the only database on this topic.
We didn't focus on Panama or Central America; we collected information on every global destination. In refining our survey results, we first eliminated anyone relocating for less than two years, and anyone relocating because of the requirements of the government, the military or their jobs. We did include people who are not relocating but are seriously considering purchasing a vacation home or other property outside the U.S. This group is likely to include many who will later choose to relocate.
These results project the results of the surveys onto the entire U.S. population. The numbers are for households, not individuals.
• 1.6 million U.S. households have already made the decision to relocate. That figure has remained stable over the year and a half during which seven surveys were conducted.
• Another 1.8 million households are seriously considering relocation and are likely to do it.
• 7.7 million households are "somewhat seriously" considering relocation and "may" do it.
• Nearly 3 million households are seriously considering the purchase of a vacation home or other property outside the U.S., and another 10 million are "somewhat" seriously considering it.
Adding it up, almost 10% of U.S. households are looking at leaving the country, and another 10% are considering living outside the country part time. This silent emigration is ignored by nearly every population analyst.
These would-be emigrant households plan to spend an average of $260,000 on the purchase or construction of a house, and they plan to spend at least $36,000 annually on living expenses outside the U.S. In total, they represent the emigration of hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the U.S. economy.
The largest group actually having made the decision to relocate is in the households where the adults are 25 to 34 years old. Blame it on outdated 20th-century thinking, but I assumed this age group would be too busy establishing families and career paths to pull up stakes and move out of the country. Wrong. When it comes to a serious interest in buying a property outside the U.S., that youthful age group dominates. A lot of Americans are at various stages of considering relocation or buying property overseas, but the 25-34 age group is the one putting down the bucks to do it.
There will be plenty of social, economic, political and plain old-fashioned business consequences to this silent migration. The cost to the American economy could be more than just financial: Young Americans push new ideas into society. They build new companies and create new jobs. Stay-at-home Americans will be poorer without them, unless the country keeps the emigrants connected to the U.S., supports them and gets benefits from their movement into the new global culture.
Barrons
IT WAS JANUARY OF 2006 AND COLEY WAS 39. He had written and asked if he and his friend Jon could talk to me about their idea of setting up an investment operation in Panama to work the Central American region on behalf of U.S. investors. So there I was sitting in a local restaurant, surprised that two young professionals with young families were seriously thinking of quitting their well-paid positions in the U.S. to start a business a few thousand miles away. Today, they are the owners of Latin American Venture Partners, successfully living with their families and working from their offices in Panama.
I've lived and worked overseas for four decades and have traveled to more than forty nations. My interest in moving to Panama was not related to retirement, though some retirement Websites that focus on Panama introduced me to the country.
After visiting and getting to know Panama, I appreciated that most of these Websites provided very little real information. So I set up my own Website, RetirementWave.com, to offer a view of the country without any commercial motivation. I saw it as a simple public service and I didn't waste any money promoting it.
I would have been happy to help a few dozen people get a clearer idea of the country; 200,000 visitors and 2,700 members later, I find myself with an unpaid job that takes a lot more of my attention than I ever imagined. The real surprise, though, is that more than 20% of my "Retirement Wave" members are in their 20s, 30s and 40s. They are not thinking in terms of retirement. They are interested in relocating to or investing in Panama.
They are part of a silent emigration of Americans, retirees and more, seeking to live and work in other nations -- and not just the wealthy nations of Europe.
How many? A State Department survey of its embassies and consulates in 1999 suggested a total of 4.1 million Americans living overseas at that point, but there's little good data. So my company, New Global Initiatives Inc., hired Zogby International to do surveys of adult Americans on the subject of relocation outside the U.S. With more than 115,000 respondents, we have the largest and, as far as we know, the only database on this topic.
We didn't focus on Panama or Central America; we collected information on every global destination. In refining our survey results, we first eliminated anyone relocating for less than two years, and anyone relocating because of the requirements of the government, the military or their jobs. We did include people who are not relocating but are seriously considering purchasing a vacation home or other property outside the U.S. This group is likely to include many who will later choose to relocate.
These results project the results of the surveys onto the entire U.S. population. The numbers are for households, not individuals.
• 1.6 million U.S. households have already made the decision to relocate. That figure has remained stable over the year and a half during which seven surveys were conducted.
• Another 1.8 million households are seriously considering relocation and are likely to do it.
• 7.7 million households are "somewhat seriously" considering relocation and "may" do it.
• Nearly 3 million households are seriously considering the purchase of a vacation home or other property outside the U.S., and another 10 million are "somewhat" seriously considering it.
Adding it up, almost 10% of U.S. households are looking at leaving the country, and another 10% are considering living outside the country part time. This silent emigration is ignored by nearly every population analyst.
These would-be emigrant households plan to spend an average of $260,000 on the purchase or construction of a house, and they plan to spend at least $36,000 annually on living expenses outside the U.S. In total, they represent the emigration of hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the U.S. economy.
The largest group actually having made the decision to relocate is in the households where the adults are 25 to 34 years old. Blame it on outdated 20th-century thinking, but I assumed this age group would be too busy establishing families and career paths to pull up stakes and move out of the country. Wrong. When it comes to a serious interest in buying a property outside the U.S., that youthful age group dominates. A lot of Americans are at various stages of considering relocation or buying property overseas, but the 25-34 age group is the one putting down the bucks to do it.
There will be plenty of social, economic, political and plain old-fashioned business consequences to this silent migration. The cost to the American economy could be more than just financial: Young Americans push new ideas into society. They build new companies and create new jobs. Stay-at-home Americans will be poorer without them, unless the country keeps the emigrants connected to the U.S., supports them and gets benefits from their movement into the new global culture.
Barrons
Monday, September 24, 2007
Panama's retiree benefits
September 23, 2007
RETIREE BENEFITS
Panama offers the world's most generous retiree benefits program, according to the newsletter International Living.
Benefits for pensioners who can prove they receive government or corporate pensions of $500 a month for an individual or $600 a month for a couple include:
50 percent off entertainment such as movies and
sporting events
30 percent off bus, boat and train fares
25 percent off airline tickets
50 percent off hotel stays Monday through Thursday
30 percent off hotel stays Friday through Sunday
25 percent off at restaurants
10 percent off prescription medicines
20 percent off medical consultations
15 percent off dental and eye exams
20 percent off professional and technical services
50 percent off closing costs for home loans
A one-time exemption on importing household goods
of up to $10,000 and an exemption every two years from
duties for importing a car.
Source: International Living newsletter
RETIREE BENEFITS
Panama offers the world's most generous retiree benefits program, according to the newsletter International Living.
Benefits for pensioners who can prove they receive government or corporate pensions of $500 a month for an individual or $600 a month for a couple include:
50 percent off entertainment such as movies and
sporting events
30 percent off bus, boat and train fares
25 percent off airline tickets
50 percent off hotel stays Monday through Thursday
30 percent off hotel stays Friday through Sunday
25 percent off at restaurants
10 percent off prescription medicines
20 percent off medical consultations
15 percent off dental and eye exams
20 percent off professional and technical services
50 percent off closing costs for home loans
A one-time exemption on importing household goods
of up to $10,000 and an exemption every two years from
duties for importing a car.
Source: International Living newsletter
Panama booms as retirement hot spot for Americans
South Floridians find haven from high prices and hurricanes
Story by Doreen Hemlock Photos by Carey Wagner South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 23, 2007
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Retirees Jovita and Don Franco thought the home they bought nearly a decade ago in Palm Beach County would be their last. But after visiting this bustling Central American capital, the globe-trotting couple decided to move overseas.
The Francos, both in their 70s, this summer sold their Lake Worth home at a profit and settled in an upscale gated community in an area Jovita calls the "Palm Beach of Panama." They enjoy the tropical weather, cosmopolitan flair and low costs, including household help. And they're glad to be outside the hurricane belt and away from South Florida's rising property insurance and taxes.
"We look at life from a global perspective, so the adjustment for us is not as difficult," said Don Franco.
Less than three hours by plane from South Florida and now the fastest-growing economy in Latin America, once-sleepy Panama is attracting hundreds of retirees and second-home owners from across the United States yearly. The growth is contributing to a real-estate fever that has lured speculators and raised concerns of overbuilding.
It's the start of a wave of U.S. Baby Boomers retiring abroad, spurred by the ease of long-distance travel, Internet communications, well-trained doctors overseas and surging U.S. prices that have made traditional retirement sites like Florida less attractive.
Exactly how many American retirees already live overseas is unclear. Almost 442,000 people received U.S. Social Security benefits abroad at the end of 2005. But that number does not count people whose checks are deposited in U.S. bank accounts that they manage online.
Many countries now welcome the transplanted retirees, but Panama — long known for its American-built shipping canal, international banking center and use of the U.S. dollar — offers what is widely viewed as the world's most generous program for pensioners. The government provides tax-free entry for up to $10,000 in household goods and discounts up to 50 percent on hotels and health care.
Those benefits, as well as Panama's modern facilities, low crime and property tax exemptions, are among the reasons that the newsletter International Living ranked Panama for the past six years as the world's best place for Americans to retire and live abroad. This year, rising property prices and an end to automatic 90-day entry visas pushed Panama to No. 4, after Mexico, Ecuador and Italy — but still a top draw.
Entrepreneur Paul McBride can attest to Panama's allure for South Floridians. From a high-tech office tower, the former California resident runs a travel-discount business helping foreigners interested in visiting Panama to invest or retire. He now counts 6,000 online subscribers to his Prima Panama service. The largest concentration comes from South Florida.
But concern over a speculative real-estate bubble and growing congestion is discouraging some would-be retirees from going to Panama City, including Gladys Castro of Coral Springs. A couple of years ago, she plunked down deposits on three condos in waterfront high-rises to be built in the capital, top-of-the-line apartments selling for less than half the price of similar units in South Florida. One of them, a 4,100-square-foot bayfront penthouse, cost about $500,000, compared with rates at least triple that in prime locations in greater Miami, she said.
Once the condos were finished, Castro figured she'd work in real estate in Panama and South Florida for a while and then relax in her new Central American home, signing up for Panama's pensioner program. Her daughter and son-in-law also put a deposit on a Panama condo, planning to move from New Jersey and start up a business, likely in fitness centers.
But spending time in Panama City this summer, she changed her mind. Developers of one high-rise, unable to secure funding amid overbuilding, returned her deposit. And while she enjoyed the top-notch shopping malls and restaurants, Castro was turned off by traffic jams on narrow streets not built to handle so many new residents, visitors and cars.
"With technology and globalization, you don't need to be in the United States anymore," said Colombia-born Castro, who has lived 25 years in Florida. "But for now, I don't see myself retiring in Panama City. I couldn't drive easily there."
Panama's leaders know their South Carolina-sized nation of 3 million people is suffering growing pains. They have a long list of mega-projects in the works to improve infrastructure, including a sewage treatment plant and new highways in the capital.
The U.S. housing crunch also seems to be deflating the property bubble. With speculators in the United States unable to flip properties and financing now tighter, developers can't build all the 40,000-plus units approved for Panama City anytime soon, experts say. Even the proposed Trump Ocean Club, slated to cost more than $260 million and feature a 68-floor tower, is behind schedule.
More measured growth appeals to the bulk of Americans who are retiring or buying second homes outside the capital — by the many beaches or in the mountains approaching Costa Rica, especially in the coffee-growing highlands around the town of Boquete.
Among the newcomers from South Florida: the Wells family, who now run Hostal Boquete, a simple inn about a mile from the area's first gated community developed by Americans mainly for Americans, the Mediterranean-style Valle Escondido.
Richard and Barbara Wells spent the past eight years renting out vacation homes in the Florida Keys to travelers they rarely met. But seeking a new adventure overseas, they left their oldest son to run that business and, last September, bought a hostel in the mountains.
Now, Richard Wells enjoys his time expanding the inn to 12 rooms and relaxing on its wooden porch, listening to the rushing river and talking with backpacker guests from Israel, Germany, Australia and other lands. The 52-year-old also coaches a local baseball league in which his youngest son plays. And he's helping an older son develop a tour company, with start-up costs in Panama a fraction of U.S. rates.
"This is a great place for young people to start a business because in the Keys, the risk would be too high for the price," Wells said.
Of course, moving or retiring abroad, even to a nearby nation with a strong American presence for more than a century, is not for everyone in the United States. Many U.S. transplants to Panama were born outside the United States, relocated frequently for work and simply enjoy new living experiences. Cultural sensitivity and flexibility are key to adapting, for instance when customer service may be slow, product selection limited or Spanish language an issue, retirees said.
"I miss the ocean. I miss Home Depot dearly, and I miss Costco, but I don't miss the crime, the traffic and the hassle," said Richard Detrich, 65, who left pricey Ventura, Calif., three years ago with his wife, Nicola, 58, to retire and stretch his income in lower-cost Boquete. "And we have friends here, real friends, not just business and professional relationships."
New technology helps ease the transition. Transplants here often have satellite TV, high-speed Internet and voice-over-Internet for cheap phone calls. They use South Florida "air-box" addresses, where items often bought online are shipped, consolidated and then flown to Panama. For banking, many receive deposits into U.S. accounts, check them online and take money from bank machines.
In the meantime, Jovita relishes the slower pace of life and affordable full-time household help in Panama. Don is looking to teach part time, possibly at one of several Florida university programs in Panama's "City of Knowledge" research and high-tech center.
"The next place [to retire] they say is Uruguay," Jovita joked with Don. "Don't be that curious," he chuckled back.
Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.
Sun-Sentinel
Story by Doreen Hemlock Photos by Carey Wagner South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 23, 2007
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Retirees Jovita and Don Franco thought the home they bought nearly a decade ago in Palm Beach County would be their last. But after visiting this bustling Central American capital, the globe-trotting couple decided to move overseas.
The Francos, both in their 70s, this summer sold their Lake Worth home at a profit and settled in an upscale gated community in an area Jovita calls the "Palm Beach of Panama." They enjoy the tropical weather, cosmopolitan flair and low costs, including household help. And they're glad to be outside the hurricane belt and away from South Florida's rising property insurance and taxes.
"We look at life from a global perspective, so the adjustment for us is not as difficult," said Don Franco.
Less than three hours by plane from South Florida and now the fastest-growing economy in Latin America, once-sleepy Panama is attracting hundreds of retirees and second-home owners from across the United States yearly. The growth is contributing to a real-estate fever that has lured speculators and raised concerns of overbuilding.
It's the start of a wave of U.S. Baby Boomers retiring abroad, spurred by the ease of long-distance travel, Internet communications, well-trained doctors overseas and surging U.S. prices that have made traditional retirement sites like Florida less attractive.
Exactly how many American retirees already live overseas is unclear. Almost 442,000 people received U.S. Social Security benefits abroad at the end of 2005. But that number does not count people whose checks are deposited in U.S. bank accounts that they manage online.
Many countries now welcome the transplanted retirees, but Panama — long known for its American-built shipping canal, international banking center and use of the U.S. dollar — offers what is widely viewed as the world's most generous program for pensioners. The government provides tax-free entry for up to $10,000 in household goods and discounts up to 50 percent on hotels and health care.
Those benefits, as well as Panama's modern facilities, low crime and property tax exemptions, are among the reasons that the newsletter International Living ranked Panama for the past six years as the world's best place for Americans to retire and live abroad. This year, rising property prices and an end to automatic 90-day entry visas pushed Panama to No. 4, after Mexico, Ecuador and Italy — but still a top draw.
Entrepreneur Paul McBride can attest to Panama's allure for South Floridians. From a high-tech office tower, the former California resident runs a travel-discount business helping foreigners interested in visiting Panama to invest or retire. He now counts 6,000 online subscribers to his Prima Panama service. The largest concentration comes from South Florida.
But concern over a speculative real-estate bubble and growing congestion is discouraging some would-be retirees from going to Panama City, including Gladys Castro of Coral Springs. A couple of years ago, she plunked down deposits on three condos in waterfront high-rises to be built in the capital, top-of-the-line apartments selling for less than half the price of similar units in South Florida. One of them, a 4,100-square-foot bayfront penthouse, cost about $500,000, compared with rates at least triple that in prime locations in greater Miami, she said.
Once the condos were finished, Castro figured she'd work in real estate in Panama and South Florida for a while and then relax in her new Central American home, signing up for Panama's pensioner program. Her daughter and son-in-law also put a deposit on a Panama condo, planning to move from New Jersey and start up a business, likely in fitness centers.
But spending time in Panama City this summer, she changed her mind. Developers of one high-rise, unable to secure funding amid overbuilding, returned her deposit. And while she enjoyed the top-notch shopping malls and restaurants, Castro was turned off by traffic jams on narrow streets not built to handle so many new residents, visitors and cars.
"With technology and globalization, you don't need to be in the United States anymore," said Colombia-born Castro, who has lived 25 years in Florida. "But for now, I don't see myself retiring in Panama City. I couldn't drive easily there."
Panama's leaders know their South Carolina-sized nation of 3 million people is suffering growing pains. They have a long list of mega-projects in the works to improve infrastructure, including a sewage treatment plant and new highways in the capital.
The U.S. housing crunch also seems to be deflating the property bubble. With speculators in the United States unable to flip properties and financing now tighter, developers can't build all the 40,000-plus units approved for Panama City anytime soon, experts say. Even the proposed Trump Ocean Club, slated to cost more than $260 million and feature a 68-floor tower, is behind schedule.
More measured growth appeals to the bulk of Americans who are retiring or buying second homes outside the capital — by the many beaches or in the mountains approaching Costa Rica, especially in the coffee-growing highlands around the town of Boquete.
Among the newcomers from South Florida: the Wells family, who now run Hostal Boquete, a simple inn about a mile from the area's first gated community developed by Americans mainly for Americans, the Mediterranean-style Valle Escondido.
Richard and Barbara Wells spent the past eight years renting out vacation homes in the Florida Keys to travelers they rarely met. But seeking a new adventure overseas, they left their oldest son to run that business and, last September, bought a hostel in the mountains.
Now, Richard Wells enjoys his time expanding the inn to 12 rooms and relaxing on its wooden porch, listening to the rushing river and talking with backpacker guests from Israel, Germany, Australia and other lands. The 52-year-old also coaches a local baseball league in which his youngest son plays. And he's helping an older son develop a tour company, with start-up costs in Panama a fraction of U.S. rates.
"This is a great place for young people to start a business because in the Keys, the risk would be too high for the price," Wells said.
Of course, moving or retiring abroad, even to a nearby nation with a strong American presence for more than a century, is not for everyone in the United States. Many U.S. transplants to Panama were born outside the United States, relocated frequently for work and simply enjoy new living experiences. Cultural sensitivity and flexibility are key to adapting, for instance when customer service may be slow, product selection limited or Spanish language an issue, retirees said.
"I miss the ocean. I miss Home Depot dearly, and I miss Costco, but I don't miss the crime, the traffic and the hassle," said Richard Detrich, 65, who left pricey Ventura, Calif., three years ago with his wife, Nicola, 58, to retire and stretch his income in lower-cost Boquete. "And we have friends here, real friends, not just business and professional relationships."
New technology helps ease the transition. Transplants here often have satellite TV, high-speed Internet and voice-over-Internet for cheap phone calls. They use South Florida "air-box" addresses, where items often bought online are shipped, consolidated and then flown to Panama. For banking, many receive deposits into U.S. accounts, check them online and take money from bank machines.
In the meantime, Jovita relishes the slower pace of life and affordable full-time household help in Panama. Don is looking to teach part time, possibly at one of several Florida university programs in Panama's "City of Knowledge" research and high-tech center.
"The next place [to retire] they say is Uruguay," Jovita joked with Don. "Don't be that curious," he chuckled back.
Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.
Sun-Sentinel
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