Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Panama-David flights are benefitting from a price war. The new Canal gates are finally installed. And, Varela extends price controls on basic foods. Here’s the latest.
Rumble between Copa and Air Panama over David route
With Boquete, and the many communities in the western province of Chiriquie growing in size and popularity, it’s only natural that both domestic and international flights would increase. In Panama, there are only two national carriers, and now, both are fighting over fares and routes in between Panama’s two largest cities. The winner? The consumer.
Neither airline presents a stationary target for competitors, and that may be the reason for Copa’s decision to get into domestic aviation and may be the route to Air Panama’s salvation. Air Panama began cheap regular flights between Albrook and Medellin earlier this year and in a July visit here Colombian President José Manuel Santos and Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela announced that there would be air service between Rio Hato and Bogota.
That route so far has not materialized for regularly scheduled flights but charters do now bring Colombian tourists to the beach resorts of Panama Oeste and Cocle provinces via Rio Hato. Air Panama has also tested the waters of International aviation by the occasional charter to the Cayman Islands and by an alliance with Costa Rica’s Tica Air. That latter alliance would theoretically make David to San Jose to Miami service a lower-costs competitor for Copa.
Source: The Panama News
Panama to extend food price controls another six months
One of the biggest sticking points to 2014’s newest president of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, is the freezing of food prices to help stem inflation. Varela’s policy was limited, but enforced controls on 22 basic food products that Panamanians see as part of their list of basic goods. Now, the price controls are set to be extended, based on data the current administration drew from the initial initiative.
President Juan Carlos Varela authorized the initial controls after taking office in July. The move was widely seen as an attack on his predecessor Ricardo Martinelli, a one-time ally turned antagonist, who owns one of Panama’s largest supermarket chains. Varela’s trade and industry minister Meliton Arrocha said the government would not hesitate to add more products to the list if “reasonable” prices do not prevail. The products currently covered include staples such as beans, chicken, rice and powdered milk.
Source: Reuters
Diamond Companies Set to Move Into Panama Exchange
Panama is building a diamond and jewel center that is set to match some of the world’s best. The center is set to house 14 of the world’s largest diamond trading firms with a net value of nearly $15 billion. Here’s who they are, and what thy plan on adding to Panama’s economy:
The 14 diamond companies are: Kiran Gems, Diarough NV, Rosy Blue, Bhavani Gems, Interjewel, Jewelex, M. Suersh, the Niru Group, ILI Diamonds of the A. Rachminov Group, Atit Diamonds of the Shairu Gems, Dianco, Ofer Mizrahi Diamonds, S. Schnitzer Diamonds and S. SB Bichachi Diamonds Group. They join more than 30 other diamond and jewelry companies from Israel, Belgium, India, the United States, Italy and Latin America, to make up what already is the largest concentration of diamond and jewelry specialists in Central America, South America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
“The Panama Gem & Jewelry Center, the new home of the Panama Diamond Exchange, is ready for business, and right on schedule, we are happy to say,” said Eli Izhakoff, PDE’s Founding Chairman. “After detailed planning, a very ambitious building program and hard work by all concerned, it is possible to declare that our targets have been met. It is certainly the newest diamond and jewelry-dedicated structure on the face of this earth, and also one of the most attractive. The Latin American diamond, gemstone and jewelry industries can be most proud about what has established for them.”
Source: IdexOnline.com
Gate installation brings Panama Canal closer to expansion
The latest gates delivered to the Canal have now been installs, and the images are fantastic. In a true example of engineering innovation, the next generation of Canal parts has been installed in Panama. This is a big step in the multi-year project that had been mired by delays until recently. These installations represent a major step in the new Canal Expansion’s completion.
“This is a very important milestone for the Expansion Program,” Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano said in a press release. “We see how the new locks are rapidly taking shape as we move towards the successful completion of the project.”
The final shipment of Panama Canal gates arrived at a site of the new, third set of locks on Nov. 12. All of the gates – eight for the Atlantic side and eight for the Pacific – were delivered to the canal in staggered shipments of four at a time, the first arriving on August 20, 2013. Each gate took about a month to ship to the canal.
