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Thread: Is Panama really the most business-friendly country?

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    Senior Member coolandhot is on a distinguished road
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    Is Panama really the most business-friendly country?

    Is it really the most business friendly country in Latin America? I suppose I can't think of another Latin American country that is more business friendly than Panama off the top of my head.

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    lee
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    Senior Member lee is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by coolandhot View Post
    Is it really the most business friendly country in Latin America? I suppose I can't think of another Latin American country that is more business friendly than Panama off the top of my head.
    Yes I do think so.... because:

    1. It has the US Dollar as national currency!
    2. A good infrastructure.
    3. About 200 different banks to choose from (maybe more).
    4. High standard of living at relative low cost.
    5. Most hotels and apartments have high speed internet.
    6. It's friendly towards foreigners and not overly corrupt towards them.
    7. A large EXPAT Community.
    8. Many speak/understand English. Banks and shops have English speaking employees.
    9. English book shops!
    10. Low crime.
    Last edited by lee; 10-20-2007 at 11:37 AM.

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    Member panman is on a distinguished road
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    I think the fact that it uses the US dollar helps a lot, especially for businesses from the United States.

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    Member titaniumhijau is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by lee View Post
    Yes I do think so.... because:

    1. It has the US Dollar as national currency!
    2. A good infrastructure.
    3. About 200 different banks to choose from (maybe more).
    4. High standard of living at relative low cost.
    5. Most hotels and apartments have high speed internet.
    6. It's friendly towards foreigners and not overly corrupt towards them.
    7. A large EXPAT Community.
    8. Many speak/understand English. Banks and shops have English speaking employees.
    9. English book shops!
    10. Low crime.
    Erk. Thanks lee for that list. I need to think again if i need to bring my son here. Good or not its also depend on our money. I think i need to think again our budget.

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    Senior Member themark is on a distinguished road
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    200 different banks? That's a lot! How many banks are there in other countries?

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    Member Charlez is on a distinguished road
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    Yeah the use of the USD is one of the most attractive aspects followed by the low cost of living.

    Countries that don't use the USD tend to be seem less business friendly. Also the low crime rate is another good factor since what good is it to have a lot of money if your at risk of being robbed/killed? Which is why various other countries that offer a low cost of living are unattractive since their crime rates are much higher.

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    Junior Member Monkey is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by lee View Post
    Yes I do think so.... because:

    1. It has the US Dollar as national currency!
    2. A good infrastructure.
    3. About 200 different banks to choose from (maybe more).
    4. High standard of living at relative low cost.
    5. Most hotels and apartments have high speed internet.
    6. It's friendly towards foreigners and not overly corrupt towards them.
    7. A large EXPAT Community.
    8. Many speak/understand English. Banks and shops have English speaking employees.
    9. English book shops!
    10. Low crime.
    Thanks for posting some of what Panama is like, I'm going to go to Panama sometime in the future for business related issues and i can't speak Spanish although now that you've mentioned that the majority of them can speak English it makes me abit happier ;P.

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    Senior Member nuaeman is on a distinguished road
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    What kind of business is more suitable and well known over there? How's the buying power over there and also piracy and stuff.

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    Senior Member zhinghur is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by lee View Post
    Yes I do think so.... because:

    1. It has the US Dollar as national currency!
    2. A good infrastructure.
    3. About 200 different banks to choose from (maybe more).
    4. High standard of living at relative low cost.
    5. Most hotels and apartments have high speed internet.
    6. It's friendly towards foreigners and not overly corrupt towards them.
    7. A large EXPAT Community.
    8. Many speak/understand English. Banks and shops have English speaking employees.
    9. English book shops!
    10. Low crime.

    Are you sure there are 200 different banks in Panama ??
    Not overly corrupt but corrupted to a huge extent such that we can bribe the cops??

  10. #10
    Moderator MRWOOHOO is on a distinguished road MRWOOHOO's Avatar
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    Actually I think allot of banks merged so it actually maybe only 100 now. As far as bribing police outright, it is pretty common practice in many countries and pretty standard throughout Latin America. Once again the police here are pretty friendly towards the tourists, no problem.

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    Senior Member nuaeman is on a distinguished road
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    I guess some business which deal with illegal things like pirated software or such can take this opportunity to bribe but I find that's not gonna be good for other businesses which are doing the legal way.

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    Junior Member MichaelJamesPorter is on a distinguished road
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    I do business with Panama and other 3rd world countries (although I do not classify Panama as a 3rd world country) with my European company. The fact that Panama's legal tender is the Dollar provides great financial stability and saves everyone a lot of hassle for making contracts, paying any 3rd Party and dealing with banks. It is much more difficult doing business in Costa Rica and even in some parts of Africa.
    Michael James PORTER
    Web Consultant / Engineer
    www.Panama-Property.com

    "Panama Property is the best
    and safest panamanian web portal
    for finding property in panama."

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    Junior Member Shelby is on a distinguished road
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    Yup man, you are correct Panama is the most business friendly place. Specially for travel & hotel related business as well as for the real estate related business – Panama is the best place.
    I heard that Panama rocks in the real estate business as the result hotel charges are increased there & real estate investors are getting more and more there,

    Cheers,
    Shelby,

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    Junior Member spry is on a distinguished road
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    Well, I'm not sure if Panama is THE MOST business friendly country in LatAm, but certainly it offers a lot of incentives to doing business compared to other countries in the region, such as the Colon Free Trade zone, corp tax advantages (0% from income originated off-shore), oil free trade zone, call centers incentives, city of knowledge, etc.
    Depending on the focus of the business you will develop in Panama, you can maximize the use of these incentives. On the other hand, there's scarcity for well-educated resources if you want to setup a high-tech or sofisticated services company. For that purpose Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay are more competitive than Panama.
    In terms of qualified cheap labor, I think Panama ranks fairly poor compared to Mexico, El Salvador or Nicaragua to setup a "maquiladora" business.

    In summary, if you want to setup a business for the solely purpose of lowering your current off-shore corporate income tax expenses or to do export/import from Colon, then Panama is a good choice. But if your business will need high-level skills and qualified human resources at competitive costs I suggest to look elsewhere.

    On regards to the banks, in reality there's a list of about 75 banks active now (listed in this forum), but only some of them are foreign-friendly, oriented to corporations, and with acceptable service levels, which reduces your options to a bunch of 5 or 7.

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    Junior Member hockey97 is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by lee View Post
    Yes I do think so.... because:

    1. It has the US Dollar as national currency!
    2. A good infrastructure.
    3. About 200 different banks to choose from (maybe more).
    4. High standard of living at relative low cost.
    5. Most hotels and apartments have high speed internet.
    6. It's friendly towards foreigners and not overly corrupt towards them.
    7. A large EXPAT Community.
    8. Many speak/understand English. Banks and shops have English speaking employees.
    9. English book shops!
    10. Low crime.

    I doubt it has low crime maybe compared to other countries.

    I saw on the U.S embassy they show some heavy crime. Their was one report of guys with Mercedes they chop off someones head and was walking with it around town.

    So I am not sure if the crime is low or not.

    Just sharing what I found.

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    Senior Member exilio is on a distinguished road
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    For some real data on this question, go to Home - Doing Business - The World Bank Group and download the (free) 4.7MB PDF report, "Doing Business 2009." Although Panama has made some reforms, it is very far from the easiest place in the world to do business. (The report ranks it #81, which is somewhere in the middle of all countries studied.)

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    Member Kian is on a distinguished road
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    What are the basis to be the most friendly country?

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    Senior Member exilio is on a distinguished road
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    Panama - 10th *worst* country in the world for paying business taxes

    Paying Taxes - The Global Picture - Doing Business - The World Bank Group
    ▲▼

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    Member Kian is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by exilio View Post
    Panama - 10th *worst* country in the world for paying business taxes

    Paying Taxes - The Global Picture - Doing Business - The World Bank Group
    ▲▼
    Oww...That's too bad to hear

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    Senior Member BEL-AIR is on a distinguished road
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    All the lawyers trying to say Panama is so great for business must have forgot to list these stats... heheheh


    Looks like all the lawyers trying to get people to do business in Panama, and sell them corporations etc are pulling the fast one on many of us. More likely just lining there own pockets.... I fell for all there fancy promotions to.

    I been suspecting this for some time now... Took me awhile to learn all this, but it is not the low tax haven or perfect business climate that many have led us to believe... Unless of course all your income comes from bank interest or stock gains.

    A person trying to escape taxes and red tape from america come to Panama to be less regulated might be dissapointed..... Can anyone on the board confirm this?

    Darryl
    Last edited by BEL-AIR; 04-13-2009 at 11:10 PM. Reason: spell

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    Senior Member exilio is on a distinguished road
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    For people with LOTS of money and an on-retainer crew of lawyers and accountants, I'm sure that Panama has advantages. E.g., if it's good enough for the scoundrels at AIG and HSBC, it must have something going for it. There are also some business incentives for large companies that are willing to create HQs in Panama; e.g., Caterpillar. It also can be a good location for companies that do a lot of import/export. But for us ordinary, law-abiding plebes, the tax advantages are slim to none. E.g., all this talk about setting up a corporation to protect your personal assets: You can do exactly the same thing in the US. Or, another example: You can put all your money in Panama real estate, and the IRS won't tax the capital gains when you sell -- *IF* you make a profit -- but Panama will. And as far as getting what you pay for: I've subsidized Medicaire, via my US taxes, for a few decades now, but that coverage is useless in Panama. If I want to claim those benefits I've already paid for, I have to move back to the US.

    ▲▼
    ▲▼

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    Senior Member BEL-AIR is on a distinguished road
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    So true Exillio...

    But most of the big boys, like western corporations etc, have shell corporations in the Cayman Islands, not Panama. They got a great system going in Cayman between shell corporations on Cayman and the corporations back home, were They pass fake bills back and forth for right offs back in the west among many other things..

    There are trillions and trillions of dollars in each of Cayman and British virgin Islands...

    There is a single small building in the Caymans that house 15,000 fake shell corporations owned buy the corporations of the west.. Many more building were that came from, that is were the money is and that is why the hedge funds are there.. and that is to invest tax free all that money the shell corporations are making from passing fake bills back and forth from their corporations in the west...

    Panama is and holds like 1/100th of the wealth, {This might shock some] I don't think there is any hedge funds even in Panama, but in Cayman there is 12,000 alone, controlling trillions and trillions of Capital, all of it tax free. So Cayman does not have as many as banks, but the trillions in hedge funds are were the big money is at...

    So that is an advantage for the big boys in Cayman, but for the average guy moving to Panama or any country for that matter with a business to start, it is not as big of advantage as many think, as your other posts mentioned, it can actually be more headaches and almost as high or higher tax rates, depending on which country you are coming from....

    corporate and small business tax rates are not much different between Panama and western countries really...


    you even have to pay capital gains on a house or property when you sell it in Panama, which is tax free in my home country of Canada.

    Darryl
    Last edited by BEL-AIR; 04-14-2009 at 05:18 AM. Reason: spell

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    Senior Member exilio is on a distinguished road
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    you even have to pay capital gains on a house or property when you sell it in Panama, which is tax free in my home country of Canada
    True also in the US, if it is your home. There's a limit; it was $500K gain when I left, don't know what it is now. In Panama, anything above $30K is taxed.

    Now, there are many people in Panama who evade this, by recording one price and selling at another -- but it is illegal to do so. It's just another example of the fact that if you're willing to lie and cheat, there are lots of way to avoid taxes -- not my MO. And if you do get caught, it's much better to be in a US jail than one in Panama. :-)

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    Senior Member BEL-AIR is on a distinguished road
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    "And if you do get caught, it's much better to be in a US jail than one in Panama. :-)"

    heheheh That was funny, I once seen a jail in the Philippines, and believe me, that was a nasty little
    place...

    ---------- Post added at 03:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 AM ----------

    "Now, there are many people in Panama who evade this, by recording one price and selling at another -- but it is illegal to do so."

    How is this done in Panama, is your selling and buying price not recorded on the title or deed? Or maybe they get the house appraised each time it sell, or how does this work?

    If a person built a house themselves wholesale for like $200,000 but was $250,000 retail when it was done, and you sell it 3 years latter for $300,000, what is the real gain I wonder?

    Speaking of taxes, I have heard on forums of several foreigners being audited for taxes for both property sales and also income taxes in Panama... Even on this forum....

    So people moving just for a tax haven reason, will be in for a shock when the Panama tax guys instead of the IRS guys, Comes knocking on their door.

    Darryl

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    Member michellapa is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by hockey97 View Post
    I doubt it has low crime maybe compared to other countries.

    I saw on the U.S embassy they show some heavy crime. Their was one report of guys with Mercedes they chop off someones head and was walking with it around town.

    So I am not sure if the crime is low or not.

    Just sharing what I found.
    I personally think Panama has a high crime rate. Just pick up a newspaper... actually right now I think its even worse because of the elections. There are alot of kidnappings and alot people are getting robbed/killed in taxi cabs. Im not saying this to scare anybody, but its a sad reality because the law isnt as strict on crime like the states. so I suggest keeping your eyes open and if you have to use a ATM please us it inside a super market or outside a bank where there is security.

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    Senior Member Panamax is on a distinguished road Panamax's Avatar
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    A clarification...

    Quote Originally Posted by lee View Post
    Yes I do think so.... because:

    1. It has the US Dollar as national currency!
    2. A good infrastructure.
    3. About 200 different banks to choose from (maybe more).
    4. High standard of living at relative low cost.
    5. Most hotels and apartments have high speed internet.
    6. It's friendly towards foreigners and not overly corrupt towards them.
    7. A large EXPAT Community.
    8. Many speak/understand English. Banks and shops have English speaking employees.
    9. English book shops!
    10. Low crime.
    I take issue only with #1 (in bold). The "Balboa" - not the US dollar - is the national corrency. However, the US dollar is accepted as legal tender of the same value. Panama does not mint currency (paper money), only coins, while accepting American coins as well.
    "Few cities in Latin America can match the diversity, cosmopolitanism and sheer energy of Panama City..." - THE ROUGH GUIDE

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