The Americas Economy

The year 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a comprehensive deal establishing the terms of trade and investment between Mexico, Canada and the US. With a $19trn market, NAFTA is one of the largest trading blocs in the world, encompassing some 500m people and a wealth of natural resources. Two decades on, proponents and critics...

Useful information for visitors to Panama

An audio-visual revolution is the term that would best describe the events that have taken place in Panama ever since the Law of Cinema (Ley del Cine) came into force in 2012. At that time, Panama was only producing an average of one film per year, with a shortage of technical and artistic staff, few incentives from the state and a lack of support from the private sector. It was in this context...

Heavy government spending on new social programmes and overhauling the infrastructure network has amplified the importance of increasing public sector revenue, income and in particular tax collections. However, administrative strategy has focused on maintaining or even lowering tax rates across the board while simultaneously closing loopholes...

Panama has leveraged its geostrategic position as the crossroads between the Americas throughout history, particularly over the past 15 years. Since 1999 – when the country finally gained control of the Panama Canal – economic progress has been all but unstoppable, with an average GDP growth of 6.8% from 2000 to 2012, according to data from the...

Surging economic growth, a rapidly improving infrastructure network and having one of the world’s main trade routes have allowed the country to transform itself into a popular destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) over the course of the past decade. Simultaneously, the presence of an attractive regulatory framework providing numerous...