Panama’s economy grows
Despite the negative effects of the rising oil prices, Panama’s economy grew by 6.!% during the second quarter of 2005, according to the office of the General Comptroller of the Republic. The most successful sectors of the economy were the port system, air transport, the hospitality industry, the Panama Canal, the Colón Free Zone and international trade, strengthened by the export of non-traditional agricultural products. The quarter was also prosperous for rice farmers, the manufacturing industry, the construction sector, communications, banking, the retail sector and the real-estate industry, which has grown tremendously in the last five years due to the construction of residential communities for foreign retirees and new dwellings for the middle and upper classes.

The export of goods and services rose by 15% and unemployment dropped almost 5%

The year, however, was not a successful one for the banana industry, which is lost 30% of its production due to the spread of disease and decades-old financial problems. The production of sorghum, sugar cane, fishing and husbandry also experienced tough times during 2005.

Inflation grows too
Inflation in Panama is expected to increase between 3.75 and 4% by the end of the year, according to the economic report for November of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE). The report indicates that by analyzing the same consumer price index of September 2004 with September 2005, an increase of 3.5% is shown caused by: transportation at 8.4%; housing, water, electricity and gas at 5.8%, food and beverages at 3.6%. Historically, inflation in Panama has hovered around 1-2%.

White-collar theft?
Everybody knows that electricity theft in Panama has been going on for years. What a large percentage of the population ignores, however, is that the problem is not exclusive to areas such as San Miguelito, Curundú or Chorrillo, where poverty and high unemployment (and the colorful consumerism of the working class) tempted many families in December to light their Christmas trees with dangerous illegal connections. The truth is that some of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods, including Paitilla, Marbella, El Cangrejo and Costa del Este are places where the theft of electricity mainly takes place. This causes annual losses of some US$25-million to the distributing companies.

Sending more shrimp up north
Panama will continue exporting shrimps to the U.S. market after obtaining a positive qualification during the inspection carried out by the Office of Marine Conservation of that country on the Panamanian shrimp fleet. The director of Coastal ad Marine Resources of the Panama Marine Authority (AMP), George Novey, indicated that the yearly inspection is performed on the high seas as well as in the port of Vacamonte.

A love affair with China?
Two years ago, Panamanians were first exposed to the 4WDs manufactured by First Automobile Works (FAW) --China’s top car manufacturer—and they were surprised. At first sight, the models resembled Toyota’s best brands, but they were 100% assembled in the People’s Republic of China. When it comes to vehicles, Isthmians normally go for Japanese, North American and European vehicles, considering any other type of vehicle "cheap and unreliable". This time, however, they were wrong. The new vehicles turned out to be among the best sold between 2003 and 2004.

The successful import of FAW vehicles to Panama is only part of what appears to be a strong commercial inclination towards mainland China –a country not officially recognized by the Republic of Panama. Along with other 14 nations, most of which are Latin American, Panama has diplomatic ties with Taiwan, China’s "rebellious province", but everything indicates that the "Red Giant" will soon take the place of Taiwan as one of Panama’s most important commercial partners. Ten years ago, Chinese exports represented only US$2.9 million. Last year, they represented US$72 million –the result of the aggressive commercial lobby of Panamanian and Chinese businessmen. In early 2004, China took part in Expocomer, Panama’s most important trade fair for the first time. In early 2006, a party of 400 Panamanian businessmen will take part in a major commercial exhibit in China.

The commercial "flirtation" between both nations has raised many eyebrows in Washington’s political circles, where not a few conservative figures have already expressed their concern about China’s possible involvement in the yet-to-be approved modernization works of the Panama Canal. The truth is that the government of President Martín Torrijos is doing is best to get close to the world’s sixth largest economy without breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

During the first quarter of 2005, Panamanian exports to China represented US$6 million.

Copa goes public
CIASA –holder of 49% of the stocks of Copa Airlines (currently the country's only internatinal airline carrier) plans to sell US$238 million in stocks through a public bid on the New York Stock Exchange. The main proprietors of the firm, the Motta, Heilbron and Arias families, will sell a percentage of their class A shares at US$15 and US$17 each. Buyers, however, will have no right to vote, except under specific circumstances. The sale is expected to reduce CIASA's ownership of Copa Airlines from 51% to 34%. CIASA's partner, U.S. Carrier Continental Airline, will also sell part of its percentage, reducing ownership from 49% to 32%. Continental Airlines became a major partner in Copa in the late 1990's, transforming it into one of the fastest-growing air transport companies in the region through a strong strategic alliance and the purchase of a brand-new fleet. Both airlines are expected to continue the relationship until 2015.

Copa Airlines was founded as Compañía Panameña de Aviación, a domestic airline, in 1947. After abandoning its national routes in the 1980's, the company consolidated its international presence with the establishment of the Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport in the 1990's. Copa currently flies to over 30 destinations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.

Justine Pasek, the first Panamanian-born Miss Universe, has launched her 2006 calendar, which features spectacular photos of Panama’s most famous super-model, combined with fashion, health and beauty tips.

The calendar is for sale at Grand Morrison, and Arrocha stores, as well as in 94 other locations throughout Panama.

Justine was crowned Miss Universe in 2002 and has become one of the country’s most beloved and respected personalities. She is currently involved in a number of social projects and charities, including PROBISIDA, the country’s most important private organization dedicated to the well-being of AIDS patients.

Proceeds from the sale of the calendar will be donated to PROBISIDA and to FANLYC (a charity for children with cancer and leukemia.)

Book Review:

Hindi Diamond’s book "Gringa, my love Affair with Panama" is a "must read" for anyone who knew Panama and the Canal Zone in the days when 25,000 US citizens worked here and many thousands more US troops were stationed on the Isthmus; and equally so for every expat and foreigner who wants an insight into the Panama of those not-so-far distant days.

It is also a safe bet that the Spanish language edition will be a sell-out when it appears the shelves of Panama’s bookshops.

Hindi came to Panama in her teens. Her parents, from a Jewish family in New York, were making a new life here in the heyday of the "Golden Ghetto" as the Canal Zone was sarcastically known. At the age of 25 she landed a job on the Panama American, an English language newspaper catering to the U.S. population of the Canal Zone.

"Gringa" is the story of the next 20 years of her life and extremely successful career as a photo journalist in "an exciting country always bursting with news".

Hindi met, interviewed and sometimes befriended an impressive number of, as she puts it " the most outstanding and nefarious as well as colorful personalities of our day".

She tells of Eisenhower, Nixon, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonard Bernstein, John Wayne. And she also has stories of humbler folk such as George Nadeau a motor cycle cop in the Canal Zone Police Force, a Panamanian chauffeur called "Slim" and Dr. Strumph a gynaecologist at Gorgas Hospital who couldn’t believe it when having delivered a child to the wife of a prominent Minister in the Panamanian cabinet, this gentlemen the following morning brought his mistress who was in labor. The two ladies had adjoining rooms, knew each other and "exchanged pleasantries", to the amazement of Dr. Strumph, himself a "hidebound puritan".

With this and other anecdotes Hindi artfully points up the culture gap between Panamanians and the Zonians which she, bilingual and bi-cultural herself, is so qualified to do.

Hindi is no shrinking violet. She is unabashedly the heroine of her book. She tells of rescueing ex-king Leopold from the jungle. She glories in her scooping the entire international Press Corps by getting access to Argentinean dictator Peron in his suite at Colon’s Washington Hotel and even getting exclusive rights to his memoirs while her colleagues drowned their sorrows in the hotel’s bar.

She even earned $50 when "Life" published her photo of Peron at his desk with a framed photo of Evita in front of him.

Margot Fonteyne was a celebrity she befriended. A poignant chapter is devoted to the great ballarina’s love affair with Panamanian Roberto Arias crippled by a would-be assasin’s bullet.

"Gringa" is a funny, insightful book which records a fascinating era in the history of both Panama and the U.S.A. It is packed with photos, many showing Hindi with the celebrities she interviewed.

Hindi Diamond broke through the barriers of Latin machismo when she worked on the Panamanian newspaper the Panama American. She was the first woman foreign correspondent covering news and features for United Press and Time. She was awarded the top civilian Gold Presidential Medal of Panama for her excellence in journalism, has appeared in "Who’s Who of American Women" and recently won the "Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award" for excelling in a world previously dominated by men. She helped found the Miami International Press Club of which she is still Vice-President and has also served as President of Women in Communications for Greater Miami. The City of Miami awarded her its Gold Medal for her promotion of tourism in her Spanish-language news magazine INDUSTRIA TURISTICA which was circulated throughout Latin America and the United States.

Panama’s lottery:

The drawing of the numbers takes place every Sunday and Wednesday.

One of the most colorful aspects of every-day Panamanian culture is the National Lottery. For a large part of the population, purchasing lottery tickets every week is as common as shopping for groceries.

Panama’s favorite luck game is played twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays. Tickets are sold from little wooden stands all over town, especially in front of supermarkets and in the downtown neighborhoods of Calidonia and Avenida Central.

When it comes to purchasing tickets, Panamanians strongly believe in birthdays and dreams. Local folklore states that, whenever someone dreams about a relative or close friend, it is best to buy a ticket with that person’s birthday, the year of birth or the year of death.

Four digit tickets cost $1.00. First prize number pays $2,000 per ticket, second prize $600, and third prize $300. There are a number of other prizes such as $1.00 for the last digit of the first prize or if you have up to nine numbers up or nine numbers down from any of the three winning numbers.

Two digit tickets (chances) cost 0.25 cents each and depend on the last two digits of the three winning numbers. First prize pays $14.00 per ticket, second, $3.00 and third $2.00. There are also special lottery games throughout the year which yield hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes.

Originally founded by members of the Duque family in the nineteenth century, Panama’s Lotería Nacional became a government entity in 1918. It is a charitable institution, offering support to public hospitals and nursing homes.

The weekly drawing of the numbers take place at Plaza Víctor Julio Gutiérrez, located at the Lotería Building, on Avenida Perú. Each drawing is an event in its own right, featuring folklore performances and music ensembles. Interestingly, the “Lotería” building was the tallest structure in Panama City until the 1970s.

Lottery ticket vendors abound throughout the country.

One of the most quaint symbols of the end-of-year in Panama are the muñecos -life-size dolls depicting the most outstanding personalities of the old year (sports figures, beauty queens, politicians, etc.).

Made with hay, old clothes, and sometimes, plastic and wood, the muñecos have a very short life span. Representing the year that is about to end, they are burned up at midnight, December 31.

The best muñecos are found along the Pan-American Highway on the way to the interior provinces, especially between the towns of San Carlos and Chame.

The unique 2006 Panama Calendar is now on sale. Published for the 20th consecutive year, the calendar is an informative publication of activities, events, concerts, exhibitions, religious dates, Jewish holy days, country fairs and national holidays of the Republic of Panama. The calendar also features Carnival and Easter dates through the year 2012, plus information on each of Panama’s nine provinces , flag etiquette and more.

The calendar is the creation of Panamanian journalist Carmela Lowe de Gobern, Editor of the Panama Cyberspace News. Price per copy is US$5.00. For more information, call 314-0398 , or send an e-mail to goberncl@cwpanama.net / www.panamacybernews.com

The latest issue of FOB Zona Libre de Colón has arrived and it is thicker than ever. The most complete guide of products and services of the Colón Free Zone, FOB’s 23rd volume features 464 full-color pages, presenting useful information on how to visit and do business in the hemisphere’s largest free trade emporium, as well as the benefits offered to those engaged in trade there. FOB also includes comprehensive lists of companies, products, trademarks, an advertisers’ index and a glossary, in addition to a well-organized product catalogue section, ranging from shoes and sandals to car-and-boat spare parts.

Published annually by Focus Publications (Int.) S.A. –the parent company of The Visitor and the Focus on Panama tourist guide— in a single English/Spanish volume, FOB Zona Libre de Colón is distributed at hotels, airports, the administration offices of the Colón Free Zone, user companies of the Free Zone, government offices and commercial entities throughout Panama, tourist venues and Panamanian embassies and consulates abroad.

For more information or to obtain copies of the publication, call (507) 225-6638 or visit www.colonfreezone.com

Visitors are welcome to visit the Colón Free Zone even though it is a wholesale area. No purchases can be taken directly out of the Free Zone, but will be sent to Tocumen Airport to be collected on departure.

Of vacations and acid buses

By Gary L. Rashba

Panama City buses are often called "Red Devils".

School buses on acid. That’s the first thing that struck me upon arriving in Panama. Those trusty yellow school buses that took me to elementary school in the United States have found a new life in Panama as public transportation buses, with the addition of psychedelic paint jobs.

Other than those buses, it was hard to get the feel of being in a foreign country at first because there was no currency exchange to deal with. Panama’s national currency is the United States dollar, only they call it the “balboa”. You can’t get any easier than that.

As soon as we ventured out of Panama City), we began to see why Panama is considered an undiscovered secret of Central America. We were immediately struck by how friendly and welcoming Panamanians are. Cars stop to let you cross the street, and most people we encountered offered a friendly smile and a “buenas,” their colloquial greeting.

“Of all the countries I visited in Central America,” a tourist who had traveled the region told me before my trip, “Panama was the best. There were no tourists-the country just hasn’t marketed itself as a tourist destination.” The travel guide I bought echoed those sentiments, and that’s what caught my interest.

We traveled from Panama City to the city of David in the west, gateway to the Chiriqui highlands, and took one of those old school busses to the mountain town of Boquete. The next day we headed straight to the thermal springs at Caldera where, for $1 paid to the caretaker, we soaked to our hearts’ delight in natural outdoor springs before cooling off in the river flowing just below. The area’s rivers are better known for trout fishing and for excellent white water rafting.

After such a relaxing first day, we were ready to tackle the Sendero los Quetzales, the famous trail known for sightings of the resplendent green and red-feathered quetzal. With our untrained eyes, we hardly noticed any birds, and certainly not a quetzal. The strenuous hike connecting Boquete with Cerro Punta traverses lush green jungle. The well-trodden trail is easy to follow, so there is no need for a guide. However, it begins and ends far from each town center-meaning a long additional hike into town after the long trek. Also, since there is no direct transportation connection between the two towns, a long bus ride back to the city of David awaits you, and then another to Boquete—adding nearly 3 hours to your day. There is talk of building a road between the two towns to facilitate tourism, but most Panamanians oppose this for environmental reasons.

Our muscles aching, we decided against climbing up to the peak of Volcan Baru, an extinct volcano, Panama’s highest point. Instead, we started off our last day in Boquete on the Café Ruiz “coffee roasting plant edu-tour” to learn how coffee is grown and ends up in our mug at home. At $4 per person, this tour is a bargain compared to the more expensive tours that also visit coffee plantations and include “cuppings,” as coffee tastings are called. Just up the road from Café Ruiz is the beautifully manicured “My Garden is Your Garden” private garden-definitely worth a stroll, and free at that.

Wandering around Boquete for several days, I found the town rather run down. This was surprising after reading tour book and online write-ups that made it sound so quaint-a treasure hidden in this green paradise. I finally discovered what they were talking about when I ventured beyond the main street and town center. We found lovely houses surrounded by flowers of all different colors-the stuff that attracts expatriates from around the world to retire in Boquete. Visitors like myself arriving by bus can easily find lodgings in town. With a car or more advance planning, patience and budget, one can reach nicer accommodations, offering cabins and rooms in pastoral settings.

In the highlands, be sure to dress warm and, if you travel during what Panamanians call the “green season” between May and September, be prepared for rain. Our plastic rain suits saved us a few times. Don’t make the mistake we made and leave your fleece vest at home-it can get chilly, even in summer. And if you’re traveling by bus to or from Panama City, that fleece will certainly come in handy. The buses put their air conditioning on super freeze, making for a not particularly enjoyable ride, despite the comfortable reclining seats on the modern coach.

Our next stop was El Valle de Anton where, as in Boquete, we were getting around by bus and therefore found accommodation in what initially appears to be the only options: Hotel Residential and Hotel Don Pepe, which share the building with the excellent handicrafts stores in the center of town. The hotels feature two of the town’s eateries: Restaurant Mar de Plata and Restaurant Don Pepe, both serving up the same tasty local fare, like hojaldres (fried dough), bollos (corn meal dough boiled in leave), patacones (fried green plantains) and ceviche (raw fish and onion marinated in lemon juice).

Only when we rented bicycles did we begin to discover more accommodations, one of which actually features two of El Valle’s attractions. At the Hotel Campestre, butterflies in a myriad of colors escorted us as we walked the well-marked, easy path to see El Valle’s famous square trees. They should call it the “butterfly path,” as they were more of an attraction than the trees. We had more success finding the trees than we did spotting the golden frogs in the large cage, the hotel’s other attraction. Only when we went to the local zoo did we see the famous nearly-extinct black-spotted yellow frogs.

Strapped into a harness and hanging from cables, we soared through the forest canopy 60 meters high above the Chorro El Macho waterfall looking (unsuccessfully) for birds in the “Canopy Adventure”. We also visited Pozos Termales, El Valle’s hot or, more accurate, luke warm springs-a true bargain at one dollar admission cost. Visitors cover themselves with therapeutic mud-one for the body and another for the face, allow it to dry, then remove the mud in mineral water showers before soaking in the pools.

El Valle is best known for its Sunday market —a cross between a souvenir handicrafts market, farmers market and plant nursery. Tour companies in Panama City offer day tours from the capital to El Valle primarily for the market, but it seemed to me that is should not be the primary reason for going to El Valle, a place of natural charm and various attractions.

Back in Panama City, our first stop was the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal, which now has a new visitors center complete with restaurants, shops and a museum that tells the story of the Panama Canal. A brief video provides more information, but nothing beats a live demonstration of this engineering marvel. It is simply amazing to watch cruise ships or massive cargo vessels stacked high with containers rising or falling as they pass through the locks for their ride through the initial or final portion of their 50 mile long, 8-10 hour transit through the Canal.

On Saturdays, for around $100, you can make a transit yourself on one of the boats dedicated to transit tours. Partial transit go through 2 of the 3 lock sets and takes a full morning.

The Interoceanic Canal Museum of Panama in the Old Quarter is also a good place to learn about the Canal. In any event, be sure to hit one of the two. At $2 per adult, the Interoceanic museum is a bargain, but everything is in Spanish, so you’ll have to dish out $5 total (including admission) for the English audio tour. You will want to visit Casco Viejo anyway to enjoy its European flavor.

Although we hiked the famous Quetzal Trail without seeing a quetzal, we hired a private guide and went early morning birding at the crack of dawn along Soberania National Park’s “Pipeline Road,” known as one of the world’s finest areas for bird-watching. What a treat it was to see so much wildlife. It was like watching a nature channel special on birds; but I was there!

We concluded our visit with a stroll and dinner on the Amdor causeway, the narrow strip connecting four small islands at the entrance to the canal. We took in great views of modern Panama City, with its tall buildings reflecting on the water, just as we reflected on all we had seen and done on our Panamanian vacation.