Panama. Something very important is happening in Panama. The isthmus is not only the absolute leader in economic growth in Latin America, but it is also doing so with rates higher than those of China: 10.8 percent in 2011 and 10.5 percent in 2012, according to ECLAC figures.
To understand what this means, it is enough to remember – in addition to the international context – that the average growth of Latin America will be 3.1 percent this year: three times less than that of Panama.
The most interesting thing about the phenomenon is that it is not a 'momentum', but a constant that has already been going on for years. The Union of Industrialists of Panama (SIP) stresses that Panamanian GDP has grown by 77.5 percent in the last seven years. And in GDP per capita, Panama is the fourth richest economy in our region, with 15,266 dollars per inhabitant: only Chile (18,354), Uruguay (15,840) and Mexico (15,300) surpass it.
But there is more: according to the World Bank, Panama's economy has been one of the 20 fastest growing in the world in the last five years; and in light of the Global Competitiveness Index, this country is already the second most competitive country in Latin America, after Chile.
Juan Alberto Fuentes, director of ECLAC's Economic Development Division, says that much of what is happening in this nation of only 3.6 million inhabitants is due to the fact that there is "a clear long-term vision and a "remarkable continuity in policies." And that although the millionaire investment to expand and modernize panama's main geostrategic charter, its interoceanic canal, has been key, this has been complemented by a strong commitment to foreign investment, an economy focused on increasingly diversified services, expansion of free trade agreements, and an increasingly active role of the public and private sectors in the development of infrastructures that improve competitiveness. of the country.
