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THE ECONOMY: THE MIRACLE OF PANAMA

By: Felipe Argote

An average GDP growth of almost 9% in the last seven years and projections for the coming years that exceed this average. Everyone who comes to Panama after not visiting in the last ten years are surprised to see the city so changed. It looks like a first world city some claim. Everyone wants to do business in Panama. Given the global financial crisis, some are intended to cover the reduced income from sales in developed countries of origin, shifting their expectations for this small country of 78.200 square kilometers and three point five million people wrongly tallied by the last census, $ 2.362 million foreign investment in 2010, an increase of 33% over the previous year.

do you explain the sudden appearance of our country as an example for the economies of the area, if just a few years ago a well known Panamanian economist said that "when the U.S. economy sneezes, Panama gets pneumonia."

Of course the previous and current government boast of being the architects of these wonderful results, to be the strategists who have led us even to be considered in countries with investment grade companies evaluated as prestigious as Moody's, Standard & Poor's (S & P) and Fitch Ratings. I say this despite the fact that all but the very confused, we know that government Martin Torrijos had no idea where his political compass, and therefore ideologically and economically, and the current government, but from the start was defined as the pendulum to the right, has made so many outbursts and has done so many improvisations it is difficult to think that has a definite direction or at least one criterion macroecómico consistent. Recall that after moving the government had to engage the services of the prestigious American consulting firm McKinsey & Co to that defined the economic direction of the government, at least in taxation.

In my opinion there is no such miracle and if anyone deserves to foist the course miracle is that great group of Panamanians who fought for the reversal of our channel and the ratification of our sovereignty (sovereignty is good business.)

by reversing the channel and recover all our territory with the departure of foreign troops, the country received nothing denesnable sum of thirty thousand million dollars in assets. By controlling our channel the country received directly from this operation in less than two years longer than we had received since 1914, it opened the way until its reversion to our country in December 1999. Recall that the United States paid only 500 000 dollars annually for the channel to the signing of the Torrijos-Carter treaty and not a single penny for the 14 bases, or for the use of water.

Just look at the economic activities are driving the economy and grow the GDP to ratify this assertion. Before our economy was based on banana and fishing, now is the transport, tourism and construction, which drag the wagons. In the period 2004-2010 only three economic activities had higher average growth of two digits: The construction 14.07%, 13.57% to transport, mines and quarries with 13.6% and hotels and restaurants with 10.4%.

Growth in transport has much to do with the terminal ports of the Atlantic and Pacific, which used military facilities controlled by the U.S. Army for their logistics and are now civilian facilities, which has allowed to exploit our geographical position as a collection center and redistribution of containers.

hotels and restaurants have had their growth as a cause of the great increase in tourism. Whereas previously the Causeway, Gamboa, Koob beach and all the Canal area was safe zone, and efficiency is based on the lower half while taking a boat to leave the country, now there are resturants, hotels, resorts, marine and everything necessary to ensure that the boats, sailing boats and stop in our region to re-provisioning and many foreigners travel to our country as a tourist.

Construction has grown due to the growth of the economy based on exploitation of our geographical position, self-conscious before the fenced area and close monitoring, not to allow the relaxation of military security fence. The increase in state revenues has allowed the development of the infrastructure especially road despite mismanagement.

You only have to compare the visitor center of the Miraflores locks before inviting you to come out of there as soon as possible and is now a tourist center with a restaurant, museum and gift shop included.

why I reiterate that no such miracle. The miracle, if you find a miracle, is that many senior managers and professionals of our country that make good business today and walk around smug by the reverted areas, insisted that the departure was not appropriate military bases and the reversal of channel, just because for them it was a business selling meat, miniestras and a few unnerving to norteameicanos drink, or because they had gainful employment on the bases. Assured frightened The Panamanians were unable to administer the canal, Panama taking control of the waterway would be a matter of time before it swallowed the weed, while the chorilleros would bathe in the locks with patched tubes of truck tires .