Air Panama

With music, the performance of a folklore dance troupe and fireworks as background, Rubén Arosemena, Panama's second Vice-president, unveiled the first Fokker 27 aircraft of Air Panama. Scores of businesspeople, most of whom were related to the international travel and leisure industry, were present at the event, which took place at the Marcos A. Gelabert Airport.

A venture headed by George Novey III, a veteran entrepreneur with 35 years in the air travel industry, the airline now called Air Panama flew under the logo of Turismo Aero until last month.

Rubén Arosemena, Vice-president of Panama, and Mr. George Novey (second and third from left to right) toast during the launching ceremony.

The new name is very familiar to many Panamanians who still remember the country's first major international carrier, which operated between the late 1960's and 1980's. The new Air Panama, however, will be a domestic airline during its first phase of operations, offering daily, scheduled flights to the tourist destinations of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, the San Blas islands, the Perlas Archipelago and the Azuero peninsula. Eduardo Stagg, the airline's General Manager, told those present at the party that the international phase will start shortly, with services between San José, Costa Rica and David, Chiriquí, and the province of Bocas del Toro.

Air Panama launched its service with three, Fokker 27 planes, each with capacity for 50 passengers and a number of in-flight facilities, such as internet, video games and video systems.

By: Joachim Bamrud

Panama City.

Thanks to a high degree of trade, Panama captured the top slot in the first annual Latin American Globalization Index developed by Latin Business Chronicle.

The index of 17 countries looks at six factors that measure a country's links with the outside world:

• Exports of goods and services as a percent of GDP.
• Imports of goods and services as a percent of GDP.
• Foreign direct investment as a percent of GDP.
• Tourism receipts as a percent of GDP.
• Remittances as a percent of GDP.
• Internet penetration.

The index includes both exports and imports to avoid a high score for a country that has high exports, but low imports or vice versa.

THE HUMAN FACE OF GLOBALIZATION
While factors like foreign direct investment, tourism receipts and internet penetration should pose no surprise in a globalization survey, including a factor such as remittances may surpise some. However, we decided to include this as it represents an increasingly important part of many Latin American countries' international links. The size of remittances to Latin America last year was almost as high as total foreign direct investment to the region. The Inter-American Development Bank calls remittances "The Human Face of Globalization."

The countries that belong to the CAFTA trade pact did well. Five of the top seven ranks went to CAFTA countries. The Andean countries on the other hand fared less well. Four of the seven-least globalized countries are Andean. Mercosur did not do well either. Three of its four members are among the eight least-globalized countries in Latin America.

No other country had export and import levels as high as Panama. Its exports of 64 percent of GDP were higher than the number two in that category, the Dominican Republic (48 percent), while its imports of 61 percent were higher than Honduras at 51 percent.

The high levels of Panamanian trade are in large part due to the Colon Free Trade Zone, the largest free trade zones in the Western Hemisphere. Last year the zone accounted for 92 percent of Panama's exports and 65 percent of its imports, according to an analysis of figures from the Colon zone management and estimates of Panama's trade by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Panama also did well in tourism receipts as percent of GDP and foreign direct investment as a percent of GDP (the fourth-highest in Latin America in both categories) and Internet penetration (eight-highest rate in Latin America).

This article was reproduced from the web page -- http://primpanama.blog.com