Noticias

Olympic hopes for Panama

Panama's Soccer team may go to the Beijing Olympics.

Panama’s Under-23 soccer team will play this weekend in Tampa, Florida in the pre-Olympic CONCACAF tournament for their chance to go to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Panama played Honduras on Tuesday, March 11 and lost 1 - 0. They will play the U.S. on Thursday, March 13 at 8:00 p.m. EST, which is now 7:00 p.m. local Panama time. Watch it on TV MAX Channel 9 or FOX Sports. The last round will be played against Cuba on Saturday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. local Panama time; it will be broadcast on RPC Channel 15.

News of the Tourism Industry

Tourism brings back traditions
Congo dance groups have put together an act in Portobelo, Colon to entertain tourists who disembark from the cruise ships that dock at Colon 2000. The young people interpret songs and dances that were passed down through the generations from slaves during colonial times. Tourist guides explain the history of the dances and the show is sustained by the tips from the tourists.

The congo groups usually perform in the small plaza in front of the San Jerónimo Fort near the Aduana (Customs) Building where local artisans sell their merchandise.

Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises plans to offer three ships transiting the Canal in the 2008-09 season. The sister ships, Coral Princess and Island Princess, both built speciﬁcally for Canal crossings, offer full roundtrip and partial crossings. The smaller Paciﬁc
Princess, holding a comfortable 670-passengers, will make a onetime 20-day Grand Canal Adventure.

Between these three ships, customers have a choice of 40 different departures and the ships offer the best views of the Canal’s locks.

“We carry more passengers through the Panama Canal than any other cruise line, and we’re delighted so many travelers have chosen us over the past 40 years as the best way to escape and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime’ experience,” said Jan Swartz, Princess’ senior vice president of customer service and sales. “What better
view from your Princess balcony than an up-close look at these amazing locks in action.”

Portobelo tour fee
Mayor of the Portobelo district Carlos Chavarría decided to charge all foreign tourists a $1 fee to visit the beautiful and historic tourist destination.

Approved by the Municipality of Portobelo, this fee was levied with the sole purpose of starting a maintenance fund to buy equipment and employ workers necessary to keep the city and the ruins of the colonial fortiﬁcations clean and attractive. The regular maintenance will improve Portobelo for its residents as well as the thousands of visitors it receives each year.

Mayor Chavarría also pointed out that he took this measure due to the lack of consensus between the National Institute for Culture (INAC) and the Tourism Authority of Panama (IPAT) to assign a special fund for this very purpose.

IPAT consults the Spanish
Miguel Angel Rodriguez, a tourism expert from Spain, was invited to Panama by the Panama Tourism Bureau (IPAT) to talk about ways Panama can better exploit and develop the current tourism infrastructure. He recommended that Panama develops what he calls “the three main pillars of international tourism.”

Mr. Rodriguez said that Panama has it all: great weather, an excellent banking sector, the Panama Canal, beautiful beaches and green areas, some of the most complete shopping centers in the region, folklore, exquisite food, good music and more. Even though the country’s tourism industry is proceeding at a good speed, it is not yet mature and there is work to be done to keep it on a ﬁrm footing.

The three pillars, as Rodriguez calls them, will help Panama achieve the status that has been aimed for. First, is to give conventional short-stay tourism a higher priority over the so-called second citizenship because the former generates more jobs and income for the country’s economy.

Second is the preservation of Panama’s coastline, making sure that we do not fence our beaches or cut them into segments. Finally, Rodriguez mentioned the importance of infrastructure – roads, airports, public transportation – so that tourists can get to their destinations. He also mentioned the need of providing tourists with information in order to push the sector forward.

Royal Caribbean comes to Panama
Beginning December 2008 to April 2009, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines will offer a sevennight cruise on its luxury liner Enchantment of the Seas, with its homeport being the city of Colon. The company plans to make 17 sailings in that time to ports in Colombia and the Dutch Antilles.

“Colón is a spectacular Central American city and sailing from Panama not only offers our guests an exciting itinerary, but also allows more travelers more convenient opportunities to enjoy a Royal Caribbean cruise,” said Adam Goldstein, president, Royal Caribbean International, at a press conference in Panama. “We are pleased to bring our signature style of cruising to Panama as we extend our brand globally, and we thank the government for their enthusiastic support.”

The Enchantment of the Seas makes stops in Cartagena and Santa Marta, Colombia; Aruba; Bonaire and Curacao.

The cruise offers many entertainment options, such as rock climbing, a bungee trampoline and a jogging track. While in port, Royal Caribbean has many excursions, including visits to historical sites, shipwreck diving, whitewater rafting and off-road adventures.

The ship has three ﬁne dining restaurants, including their Chops Grille Steakhouse and eight lounges, such as the Latin themed Boleros. Featured as well is a variety of Broadway-style performances and gambling at Casino Royale.

“Our 2007-08 itineraries from Santo Domingo on Legend of the Seas and from Brazil on Splendour of the Seas have been exceptionally well-received,” Goldstein
said, “Royal Caribbean’s expansion into Panama further demonstrates our continued focus on developing our business in Latin America.”

Isthmian Update

Some of the news in Panama

Baru studied
The daily “El Siglo” reported that a network of seismic equipment has been placed around Volcan Baru in the province of Chiriquí to help detect any eruption and mitigate hazards that may affect surrounding communities. The Panamanian government funded this team from the Department of Geosciences at the University of Panama, as an immediate response to the Joint Study of Volcano Baru in Panama, which revealed that this is a potentially active volcan and has the ability to erupt again.

Tax exoneration
Tax measures announced recently by President Martin Torrijos, as part of the Consumer Support Program (CAP) include exoneration of the income tax on those who are paid from US$801 to US$2,500 a month. This will not generate distortions in the State budget said Gisela Porras, Vice Minister of Finance.

Suitcase cash seized
Customs inspectors seized US$107,108 in cash from a Colombian citizen in the check-out section of Tocumen Internaitonal Airport, which was being carried in the double bottom of a suitcase. He arrived on a ﬂight from El Salvador.

New KLM ﬂights
The Dutch-French airline KLM has invested US$30 million to open the new route between Panama and Amsterdam, which will start operating on Sunday, March 30. After 10 years of absence, the European airline decided to return, attracted by the high development of tourism in the last year, which recorded growth of 17%. The general manager of KLM in Panama, Axel Metselaar stressed that the operation will be made inpartnership with COPA and its Hub of the Americas.

Worries over Colombia, Ecuador confrontation

Dialogue and a peaceful solution was urged upon the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, by the Panamanian government during his regional tour seeking strong condemnatiom of the Colombian military incursion into Ecuadorian territory where they killed top ranking members of the guerrilla group FARC who had a base there. From the steps of the Presidential Palace of the Herons an emotional Correa urged Panama and Latin America to close ranks to curb Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. Otherwise, he warned: Latin America will mourn with tears of blood”.

To further guard against incursions of guerrillas into Panama, the police force presence has been reinforced on the border of Panama and Colombia. The Minister of Government and Justice, Daniel Delgado Diamante, warned that they would not allow the country to become a springboard for illegal activities. Delgado said that at this time the border area with Colombia is calm. Meanwhile the situation is worrying businessmen in the Colon Free Zone. The conﬂicts between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, could escalate into war between these South American brother countries and this would affect trade relations with the Colon Free Zone said the deputy manager of the Zone, Juan Fidel Macias. Macias said that a state of war would bring international restrictions and border closures that would affect the entire system, not only economic but also political.

Uniﬁed health system
The unions represented at the forum working on the project for a uniﬁed health system agreed on the structure of health services, coordination of health services and the organization and functioning of the Uniﬁed Public Health System.

Promotion in Berlin
The Deputy Minister of Tourism in Panama, Karl Nordstrom, presented Panama’s tourism attractions in Berlin. Nordstrom explained to the news agency Efe, at the the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin, that foreign investment in real estate in 2007 amounted to US$2,500 million, a ﬁgure that surpasses the investment “throughout Central America and the Caribbean put together”.

Trade defecit up
The trade deﬁcit of Panama rose to US$5,118,000 last year, representing an increase of 51% compared to 2006, according to the Comptroller’s Ofﬁce. This reﬂects the fact that imports sextupled compared to exports. The rise in the oil price and those of imports of materials and supplies for construction played a leading role.

Firearm control
The Minister of Government and Justice, Daniel Delgado, submitted to the National Assembly a bill for the control of ﬁrearms, which seeks to minimize the impact on crimes. Delgado reported that the plan calls for new controls on the import and carrying of ﬁrearms,
but did not give further details.

To reduce food costs
Apples, pears, apricots, plums, grapes, kiwi, barley, oats, ﬂour, are some of the products that form part of the basic family food basket and on which it is contemplated eliminating import tariffs, said Guillermo Salazar, Minister of Agricultural Development. With the removal of tariffs, which are mostly between 10% and 15% the government aims to mitigate the effects that caused the increase in international prices in the basic family food basket, he said.

Gonzalez will not seek reelection
Prospects for the ratiﬁcation of the trade treaty between Panama and the USA could be improved later this year since the president of the National Assembly, Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, ruled out his intention to return to the chairmanship of the Legislative Branch for the period commencing on September 1. “Because of the dilemma that has been formed, I am not thinking of reelection”, said Gonzalez.

Opposition to the ratiﬁcation of the treaty came from many sectors in the USA where Gonzales faces a murder charge connected with the fatal shooting of a US soldier prior to the US invasion in 1989.

High Canal demand
The normal queue of vessels waiting to pass through the Panama Canal is anywhere between 40 and 50. Recently, due to a higher demand around this time- the waiting line has doubled and during the last week of February and the ﬁrst week of March up to 105 ship were stacked up.

Power generation
Thermal power generation, increased by 20 percent in 2007, while hydroelectric power production increased only 4 percent. Billing for water showed an increase of 6.6 percent, according to an of- ﬁcial report made by the Treasury Inspector’s General Ofﬁce.

Copa ﬂies to Trinidad
Panama’s Copa Airlines launched its ﬁrst direct ﬂight from Panama to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. A Brazilian-made Embraer 190, with a capacity for 94 passengers will leave from the Tocumen International Airport in Panama on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 12:10 p.m., arriving in Port of Spain at 4:02 p.m.

Bridge of the Americas rehab
The Comptroller, Carlos Vallarino, endorsed the contract for the rehabilitation of the structure of the Bridge of the Americas. This work will be made with an investment of US$12,579,000 over a period of 14 months after the delivery of an order to proceed.

Amcham promotes corporate social responsibility

Giving back is good for business

After years of working for profit, big business now wants to change it’s image. Many corporations around the world recently began forming social responsibility programs that benefit the community, their employees and the environment, said Celine Pagani-Tousignant, the speaker at the American Chamber of Commerce’s (AMCHAM) breakfast for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Celine Pagani-Tousignant, corporate social responsibilty
advocate, Mercedes Morris of Dell, David Hunt,
executive director of AMCHAM

"Companies need to use resources to benefit the community, people and employees," said Pagani-Tousignant, a speaker for the US Department of State and founder of Nomisur International, a management- consulting firm.

Free Zone gets into the act

The national government in participation with the Colon Free Zone made a commitment to the Colon community that can be called a Corporate Social Responsibility program. A revitalization plan for Colon is underway to build health clinics, schools, sports facilities and housing in Colon, according to a report issued by the Colon Free Duty Zone.

Dell Computers is one company leading the way for CSR here in Panama. A major employer in Panama, Dell is the first completely green technology company in the world. They have "erased their carbon footprint", meaning that any damage their company does to the environment has been offset by contributions to conservation, said Mercedes Morris of Dell.

The company also has a large volunteer program that works both as a training tool and a way to give back to the community. Both the green initiative and the volunteer
program are major parts of Dell’s CSR budget, Morris said. ?

People need to do research and find the best companies for their organizations. For example, Habitat for Humanity began working with Home Depot as part of the companies training program, Pagani- Tousignant said.

"Civil society is waking up," Pagani-Tousignant said, "There are a few companies pushing CSR and now there are followers."

To find out more about the speaker and corporate social responsibility visit www.nomisur.com or visit www.panamcham.com to learn more about upcoming meetings and membership.

“911” ready soon

The long-awaited 911 emergency system will be operational in six months time, according to a promise from the ministry of government and justice. The project, pushed forward by Club Activo 20-30, provides an easy way to contact all security and medical institutions across the country.

The project, named the Single Emergency Response System (SUME 911), will be financed with 1 percent of the 1GB broadband connection income as well as the corporate telecommunications services provided by Cable / Wireless. Roberto Velazquez Abood, the president of the sponsors of the system, said they would ask
the Panamanian government to grant $3.8 million dollars for the first stage of the project.

Attention Boquete bookworms!

Bookseller Hal de Mun
poses with a rare book.

New additions to the Panama collection at the Book- Mark, in Dolega, include some rare finds: they include several copies of "Red White and Blue Paradise," an account of life in the Canal Zone by Herbert and Mary Knapp, former teachers at Balboa High School, priced at $40, three copies of the original edition of "Old Panama and the Castilla de Oro" (Sudworth 1911, gilt edges), and two rare copies of the spiral bound "Anatomy of a Fraud: The 1984 Presidential Elections in Panama," by Raul Arias de Para.

A recent find also includes the panorama foldout map of the Casco Viejo, and architectural descriptions in the two-volume, boxed set "El Casco Viejo de la Ciudad de Panamá," produced during the presidency of Mireya Moscoso, and not made available to the public, priced at $37.50. Titles include extensive writings from the 1880’s through the 1920’s, plus lots of politics, fiction and international relations relating to the Canal and the country.

Ave. balboa suggested

2009 Carnival plans

A recent photograph shows the progress of the
“Cinta Costera” Balboa Avenue expansion.

Panama City Carnival president Mingthoy Giro said that next year, the city Carnival
may be held on the new Cinta Costera – the fill project that will be expanding Balboa Avenue out into what is presently the Panama Bay by a quarter mile. The fill plans to reduce traffic congestion and create new public areas. Giro was addressing complaints
regarding noise during last year's city carnival from the residents of the Betania neighborhood near Transístmica. The Ministry of Public Works (MOP) states that the Cinta Costera inauguration is scheduled for April or May of 2009.

Tight traffic forecast

Panama’s ministry of public works (MOP) Special Projects Director Carlos Ho, predicts a yearly vehicular traffic increase of 15 percent from 2008 to 2024 in Panama City. This analysis was made in order to plan vehicular bridges, exits and roads during the period

Several bridges have been rushed into production to meet the increasing number of vehicles circulating in Panama City. Domingo Díaz Avenue will have one in front of the entrance to Las Acacias, another one is planned on the exit to Cerro Viento and another one on the exit from El Crisol. Another bridge will be built on the intersection of Ricardo J. Alfaro Ave. (commonly known as "Tumba Muerto") with La Paz Avenue on the entrance to Cerro Patacón and another with be built on the entrance to San Isidro, in San Miguelito.

Ministry observers counting traffic flow found that at the intersection of Ricardo J. Alfaro and La Paz Avenues an estimated 47,000 vehicles pass daily. This number is also true for the Calle 50/Vía Brazil intersection. The busiest intersection in the study is the one that connects Via Israel and Via Brazil, with an average of 53,000 automobiles passing through every day.

Focus Publications (Int.), S.A.