THE RECENTLY OPENED PANAMANIAN- AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN ATLANTA IS SOLICITING THE CITY’S LARGEST CORPORATIONS INCLUDING NATIONS BANK, BELL SOUTH AND HOLIDAY INN WORLDWIDE TO JOIN – SECURE THAT THEY ALREADY KNOW ABOUT PANAMA’S IMPORTANCE AS AN ECONOMIC CENTER IN LATIN AMERICA.
IT ALSO EXPECTS THAT THE CITY’S LAW FIRMS AND ACCOUNTING FIRMS, THE GEORGIA PORTS AUTHORITY AND A HOST OF IMPORT AND EXPORT COMPANIES AS WELL AS FREIGHT FORWARDERS WILL JOIN AS A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THE GROWING ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF LATIN AMERICA AND AN AWARENESS OF THE COUNTRY’S ROLE AS A FINANCIAL SERVICE AND SHIPPING CENTER.
BUT MANY SMALL TO MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS STILL SUFFER FROM WHAT OLMEDO A. ROSAS, JR., PANAMA’S CONSUL GENERAL, CALLS THE SEMI-FLAT EARTH VIEW OF THE WORLD, WHICH HE DESCRIBES AS PERMITTING EXTENSIVE EAST-WEST TRAVELING, BUT LIMITING SOUTHERN DESTINATIONS BECAUSE OF A FEAR THAT THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF RETURN.
COCA COLA AND UPS UNDERSTAND THAT PANAMA AND THE REST OF LATIN AMERICA IS NOT THAT FAR AWAY AND HOW MANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS THERE HAVE BEEN, HE SAID, BUT FOR THE MOST PART THE MENTALITY IS THAT LATIN AMERICA IS FAR AWAY. IN FACT, PANAMA CITY IS ONLY AS FAR AS PHOENIX, WHICH SHOULD MAKE THE CALIFORNIANS EVEN MORE FOREIGN THAN THE PANAMANIANS.
DESPITE THE PERCEPTUAL GAPS THAT SEPARATE THE TWO REGIONS, HE POINTED TO STRONG HISTORICAL TIES WHICH BIND ATLANTA AND THE SOUTHEAST TO PANAMA SUCH AS PRESIDENT CARTER’S SUPPORT FOR THE PANAMA CANAL TREATIES, AND THE PRESENCE OF MANY MARRIAGES BETWEEN PANAMANIANS AND U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL POSTED IN PANAMA. AND HE SUGGESTED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS BETWEEN SOUTHEASTERN AND LATIN AMERICAN CITIES WOULD PROVIDE ONE RELATIVELY EASY SOLUTION TO THE LACK OF AWARENESS SEPARATING THE TWO REGIONS.
BOTH THE U.S. AND PANAMIAN REPRESENTATIVES THROUGH A BILATERAL FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATING TO ELIMINATE TRADE AND INVESTMENT BARRIERS. EVEN WITH THESE BARRIERS PANAMA HAS EXPERIENCED AN INFLUX OF U.S. INVESTMENTS, EXPLAINED IN PART BY PANAMA’S USE OF THE U.S. DOLLAR WITH NO RESTRICTIONS ON CONVERSION OR REPATRIATION OF PROFITS AND CAPITAL.
PANAMA IS THE THIRD LARGEST SITE OF U.S. INVESTMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AFTER MEXICO AND BRAZIL, AND U.S. INVESTMENT DOMINATES ALL FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN PANAMA, ACCOUNTING FOR $333.1 MILLION OF THE $434 MILLION TOTAL, ACCORDING TO FIGURES DATING TO DEC. 31, 1991.
MR. ROSAS SAID THAT PANAMA’S TRADE AND INVESTMENT CLIMATE IS FAVORABLE AS IT CONTINUES TO BENEFIT FROM STRONG ECONOMIC GROWTH – REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) GREW 9.3% IN 1991 AND 8% IN 1992, LARGELY DUE TO STRONG GROWTH IN SECTORS SUCH AS CONSTRUCTION, TRANSPORTATION AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE. REDUCTION IN CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATES TO 30% BY 1994 SHOULD STIMULATE INCENTIVES TO WORK, SAVE AND INVEST. AND THE PACE OF PRIVATIZATION IS EXPECTED TO PICK-UP AND PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH.
PANAMA’S COLON FREE ZONE, LOCATED NEAR THE ATLANTIC ENTRANCE OF THE PANAMA CANAL AND OPERATED BY THE PANAMANIAN GOVERNMENT, HAS BENEFITED FROM IMPROVED ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE COUNTRY. IT SURPASSES $9 BILLION IN TOTAL TRADE ANNUALLY, AND IS USED BY SOME 1,800 COMPANIES TO IMPORT A WIDE VARIETY OF PRODUCTS, MAINLY FROM ASIA, WHICH ARE THEN RE-EXPORTED, MOSTLY TO LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.
THERE IS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO SELL U.S. PRODUCTS, SAID MR. ROSAS. FOR THIS REASON THE CHAMBER HAS DRAWN A LOT OF INTEREST SINCE IT IS THE FIRST FOREIGN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TO BE ESTABLISHED HERE IN ATLANTA AND THE SOUTHEAST FROM A LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY.
AS CONSUL GENERAL, MR. ROSAS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GEORGIA, ALABAMA, TENNESSEE, KENTUCKY AND NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. A GRADUATE OF THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, MR. ROSAS REOPENED ATLANTA’S CONSULAR OFFICE IN 1990 WHICH HAD BEEN CLOSED SINCE 1988 WHEN THE U.S. AND PANAMA BROKE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.
MR. ROSAS SAID THAT PANAMA WAS WELL POISED TO MAKE EVEN FURTHER STRIDES ECONOMICALLY UNDER A DEMOCRATIC REGIME. FROM 1968 TO 1989 PANAMA WAS UNDER MILITARY DICTATORSHIP, HE ADDED. BUT AS ONE OF THE MANY NEW DEMOCRACIES IN THE WORLD, PANAMA IS IN A PARTICULARLY GOOD POSITION TODAY TO BENEFIT FROM GROWTH THROUGHOUT LATIN AMERICA SINCE IT CONTINUES AS ITS MOST IMPORTANT FINANCIAL, BANKING AND TRANSPORTATION CENTER. SINCE THE MILITARY HAS BEEN DISBANDED ENTIRELY, FOREIGN INVESTORS NOW CAN HAVE A PEACE OF MIND ABOUT THEIR INVESTMENTS IN A WAY THAT THEY COULD NOT UNDER MILITARY RULE.
MR. ROSAS MAY BE REACHED BY CALLING (404) 525-2772, OR BY FAXING: (404) 525-2676.