Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
Bill Clinton visits Panama wind farm, touts renewable energy in developing countries
Panama has been on a major push to bring clean energy, specifically solar and wind energy, to the country over the past few years. Recently, a number of companies have stepped up to offer viable renewable energy solutions for the country, and the country has been listening. This week, former US President Bill Clinton visited Panama to both promote, and celebrate Panama’s clean energy achievements.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is talking up the potential of renewable energy to shield developing countries from the effects of climate change. Clinton visited Central America’s biggest wind farm Tuesday. The electricity project in western Panama is scheduled to open next year with the capacity to produce about 6 percent to 8 percent of Panama’s energy needs.
The Clinton Global Initiative has provided support to the project, which was started in 2012 by a private equity firm with energy investments in Latin America.
Tocumen to pay $8 million dividend to the state this year
Late last week, Tocumen International Airport announced that it plans to pay back the state a dividend of roughly $8 million this year, adding up to a total of $86 million through 2019.
Manager Joseph Fidanque III indicated that the projections are based on passenger traffic, which will increase when the expansion to the terminal is completed. That expansion will also increase revenue from concessions. The south terminal is expected to be completed in 2017. It’s expected to generate $15 million in extra revenues.
The airport is also expected to collect some $183 million in tax revenue.
The dividend represents between 40 percent and 50 percent of the net income from the airport. Tocumen expects to close this year with $174.6 million in revenue, an increase of 11.9 percent compared with last year.
Source: La Prensa in English
Air Panama will travel to Honduras
Domestic airline Air Panama has been fighting to keep up with Copa recently, and one of the areas they’re expanding is international travel. The airline, which flies out of Panama City’s secondary airport, has just announced that they will expand their service to Honduras. This is a strategic move that could help boost both business and tourism for each country.
Silvestri said that this was an important advance to open the island to South American tourism through Panama. If an agreement is reached Air Panama will fly three times a week, bringing a total of 300 passengers.
Air Panama is an international airline based at Albrook “Marcos A. Gelabert” International Airport in Panama, and is currently the second largest airline in the country, surpassed only by Copa Airlines. The carrier offers scheduled and charter passenger flights to 28 destinations (in Panama) from its hub at Gelabert International Airport.
Source: The Visitor Panama
Panama’s Economy is Ranked 9th Worldwide for Foreign Direct Investment.
Panama’s economy is rebounding in nearly every sector, and one of the biggest areas of growth and prosperity is foreign direct investment. In fact, in a recent study done by the World Economic Forum, Panama ranked 9th in the world in this category. In our latest blog post, we go over the other high marks Panama received, and tell you how it can positively affect your plans to live and invest in Panama.
Panama’s positive competitive economic breakdown
The measurement of Panama’s economic competitiveness is based on a yearly study done by the World Economic Forum. And while Panama is still far from a top ten country, it’s considered a fast-growing one, and a transitional economy. This means that its competitiveness is not only growing, it’s growing at a faster rate than almost all other countries in Latin America (the lone exception being Chile). When it comes to land and seaport infrastructure, Panama is in the top ten. And on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) scale, Panama ranks 9thworldwide.
Continue reading about foreign direct investment in Panama
