Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! This week, we talk about “smart cards” coming to Panama, the latest presidential polls, and a number of European flights being added this summer. Here’s the latest:
More Flights Between Panama and Europe
It’s been a big few years for airlines servicing Panama as many US direct routes have been added across a number of carriers. Now, you can add Europe to the list. Starting in June 2014, Spanish carrier Iberia will start adding a number of direct flights from principle European cities to Panama. Other airlines will also follow suit, rolling out expanded route plans later this year.
Tocumen International Airport has announced that starting next June, Iberia will travel to Panama with a frequency up to six days a week, and from July, on a daily basis with the addition of its Airbus 330, which can accommodate nearly 280 passengers.
According to the information published by the Expreso website, Iberia will enable an aircraft with capacity for 278 passengers, 36 seats in business and 242 in economy, which will help increase visitors to Panama. Only in the first two months of 2014, it has received 455,640 visitors, 3.5% more than in the same period last year.
Source: GoGetIt News Panama
Panama Presidential Candidates Battle for Top Spot in Final Polls
With the presidential race just over a week away, the race to the finish appears to be a close one for Panamanian candidates. According to a recent poll by Ispos, two of the candidates – Juan Carlos Navarro and Jose Arias – are separated by less than a point (34.2, 33.9), while Juan Carlos Varela is close behind with 29.1 percent of the vote.
The winner of the race will inherit a strong but slowing growth rate in the Central American country and will oversee the completion of a multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal, which was disrupted this year by a dispute over cost overruns.
The Ipsos survey polled 2,580 of Panama’s roughly 2.4 million voters, with a margin of error of 2.16 percent. Quantix Panama surveyed 2,930 people and had a margin of error of 1.81 percent.
Source: Reuters
Goldwind to Supply 86 2.5-Megawatt Turbines to Panama
China’s biggest producer of wind turbines has just won a bid to send a significant amount of wind turbines to Panama, via InterEnergy Holdings. The turbines will be used to provide much-needed energy to the country at a very low impact to the environment. Panama relies heavily on natural energy, and has had shortages in recent years due to high demand from a swelling population and infrastructure.
The order includes 86 2.5-megawatt direct-drive turbines for the Penonome wind project in the province of Cocle, according to an e-mailed statement today from Urumqi, Xinjiang-based Goldwind’s U.S. unit. Terms of the deal, Goldwind’s largest international sale, weren’t disclosed.
InterEnergy is a closely held power-plant developer based in Dominican Republic.
Source: Bloomberg
90% of Banks in Panama Are Ready for Credit Cards With Chips
The next generation of credit cards, and credit card safety is coming to Panama. By the end of this year, most banks in Panama will be ready to issue so-called “smart cards”, which will replace the traditional credit card across the nation. These cards are embedded with a chip that acts as a microprocessor, capable of handling multiple encryption tasks, and storing data. The cards are popular all over the world, as they are much more secure and hold great future potential for more complex financial transactions.
The transition process is being coordinated by Smart Card Alliance Latin America (Scala), a subsidiary of Smart Card Alliance, a non-profit organization formed by companies and entities with links to this activity that works to achieve the general implementation of smart cards.
Chip cards implement the EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) standard, a global platform that provides interoperation of integrated circuits. Edgar Betts, Scala associate director, said that 90% of Panamanian banks are ready to start the transition process and many of them have already launched the new cards to market.
Source: The Visitor
