The American Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Panama (AMCHAM) has a new president - Walter M. Laffitte - who said last week that despite the jurisdiction's weak economic performance over the past year (for which President Mireya Moscoso has come in for much flak), the country still offers certain competitive advantages unique to the region.
AMCHAM is an association of about 400 businesses, some wholly Panamanian and others multinational. AMCHAM is one of 23 similar organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, which bring together around 20,000 enterprises, including the big ones that are responsible for some 80 per cent of the US investment in the region. At the root of AMCHAM Panama is the promotion of friendly relations and strong economic ties between the US and Panama, with the goal of attracting investment for the jurisdiction's commercial development.
Mr Laffitte is pushing particularly for additional incentives to attract foreign investment, including tax incentives and the removal of barriers against foreign companies conducting business in Panama. He said: 'Our organisation will continue working for a Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty, to attract more commercial missions to Panama, and to keep up the drive to improve the business climate in Panama'.
Meanwhile, whilst Mr Laffitte is upbeat on the foreign investment prospects of Panama, the President and other key political and business leaders have expressed their disappointment at the recent decision by the Financial Action Task Force to keep fifteen jurisdictions on its blacklist of supposed money laundering hotspots, including Panama. Towards the end of 2000, Panama improved its counter-money laundering legislation but the FATF said it wanted to see the new laws enforced before taking Panama off the blacklist.
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