PANAMA

On January 10, Laurentino Cortizo, the President of Panama, introduced the Strategic Plan 2024 covering his next five years in office. The document covers the economic, social and financial priorities that the government will address, including the strategic pillars for developing labor matters, foreign trade, the financial sector, and logistics and port activities. The Executive enacted the National Strategic Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (PENCYT, for its acronym in Spanish), which establishes the basis for achieving the structural productive transformation of the Panamanian economy through these tools. Both plans are already in force. 

The key points of the 2024 Strategic Plan are:

E-commerce:

• Modernization of e-commerce regulations.
• Expansion of the use of the electronic wallet, recently implemented by the National Bank.
• Development of legislation to facilitate the use of electronic payment in the private sector.

In the financial sector:

• Installation of a technical table, involving all the service sector players, to transform the financial system, with an emphasis on new financial technologies (FINTECH). This includes the creation of a special regulatory framework for innovative companies to foster the development of IT solutions and invite financial innovation companies to enter. 
• Promotion of the use of digital platforms in the financial sector.

Logistics and port activity:

• Strengthening logistics institutions by helping them to define a clear mandate, structure and necessary budget, to execute a Master Plan for logistics development.
• Update of the National Logistics Strategy and design Panama’s value proposition.
• Improve the processes and technological platform required to modernize logistics systems at national level.
• Development of an integrated logistics system, interconnecting ports, Free Zone, financial entities, transportation and private enterprise.

Creative industries:

• Constitution of Creative Industries companies to develop and promote the orange economy, including the cultural economy, creative industries and supporting areas.

Foreign trade:

• Creation of a Market Research and Intelligence Office to orient production in line with market demands and achieving the effective positioning of export materials.
• Implementation of a National Strategy to take advantage of the current Free Trade Agreements (FTA), helping the productive sector, among other things, to fulfill the requirements for international market access and strengthen its competitiveness and actions to benefit Panamanian consumers.

Special economic zones:

• Establishment of necessary parameters and regulations to eliminate obstacles preventing the development of Special Economic Zones, such as poor infrastructure planning, lack of maintenance, lack of coordination and planning for their development, among others.
• Modernization of the administration of the Colón Free Zone (FZC, for its acronym in Spanish), adapting it to the new realities of world trade.

The PENCYT, proposes using STI to achieve the structural productive transformation of the Panamanian economy aiming at creating new knowledge-based companies. The specific objectives are: 

• To create an innovative ICT industry, capable of creating differentiated products and an exportable offer. 
• To improve national productivity by implementing Industry 4.0 to create an exportable offer of products and services.
• To transform Panama into a world-class logistics center, a leader in innovation in distribution and value-added services with global connectivity.