Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
Panama murder rate drops by 21% in 2015 so far.
Crime, like anywhere else, is always a concern for people who live and work in Panama. This is why Panama’s latest murder rate numbers are a big deal for the country’s business sector, tourists, and residents. According to statistics shared earlier this week, Panama has made a significant dent in its murder rate; 21% to be exact. And that’s great news all around.
Panama does not have as serious a gang problem as other Central American nations such as Honduras and El Salvador. But Panamanian gangs are believed to be behind the majority of the murders committed in recent years and also play a key part in drug trafficking.
Security Minister Rodolfo Aguilera says a programme offering gang members an amnesty and vocational training to lure them away from crime has been instrumental in reducing homicides in 2015. He says that across Panama, 100 fewer people were killed between January and September of this year than in the same period in 2014.
Source: BBC News
Brazil’s Currency Plunge Leaves Panama Looking for Cuban Tourists
With Brazil going through an economic crisis, and devaluation of the both the Real and Colombian peso, Panama needs to adapt to draw in a whole new group of tourists; Cubans. But this challenge may not be so simple. Here’s why.
Restoring diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba will bring some new tourists and shoppers to Panama, though it won’t be enough to make up for the Brazilians and Colombians staying home, Varela said. He said Copa Airlines has cut flights to Brazil and now has seven daily flights to Havana.
“How the U.S. handles this relationship is going to impact a lot,” Varela said. “We expect this new private sector that is emerging in Cuba to become an important customer for the free zone in Panama. We expect them to travel to our country.”
Panama’s economy is expected to grow 6 percent this year, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, propelled in part by a $5.25 billion canal expansion expected to be finished next year.
Source: Bloomberg Business
Retail and wholesale sector employment increases
Keeping the jobs sector strong is a vital element to Panama’s sustainable economic model. And by the looks of recent data from the Office of the Comptroller, the retail and wholesale sector is doing a great job of it.
A report from the Office of the Comptroller indicates that between January and June, a total of 125,327 people were employed in the wholesale and retail sectors in Panama. Of those, 82,430 people were employed in the retail sector, 6.4 percent more than the same period last year.
Positive growth was also recorded in the manufacturing sector, which increased 2 percent to 53,342 people. Hotels and restaurants trimmed staff, as the number of jobs in this sector fell 2.4 percent to 30,032.
Source: La Prensa
Panama’s Construction Industry is Growing Again with Big Economic Benefits
After a slow start to 2015, Panama’s construction industry is rebounding; and that’s great news as we head towards 2016. While current numbers aren’t quite as high as they were in 2011-2014, the rebound in Q2 is a positive sign that they will end the year on a positive note. We take a look at the numbers, and what they mean, in our latest blog post.
Construction by the numbers in 2015
On paper, the amount of construction in Panama in 2015 hasn’t been a monumental increase. In fact, it’s growing a bit slower than it did at its peak in 2009-2010. But the critical factor when looking at the construction sector’s rebound growth is that it’s growing steady; and that’s a great sign for the immediate future. In 2015 so far, Panama has added just over 68,000 jobs in the construction field, which is actually around 4,000 jobs less than 2014’s overall number. The caveat is that it’s much higher than the first two quarters of 2015, which lead many people to speculate that 2015 would end with double-digit job deficits from the previous few years.
Continue reading about Panama’s construction industry and economic benefits
