Canada – Panama Free Trade Agreement to be Signed

PANAMA – The long awaited Panama-Canada Free Trade agreement will be signed in Toronto Canada on May 14th said Panama’s Commerce and Industry Minister Roberto Henriquez. The countries completed the agreement early this year and the agreement would give Canada immediate access to Panama’s markets and services while Panama’s access is tied to a deadline. Both countries need to ratify the agreements in order to start up trade. We were told that before the end of 2010 they would be operational.

Read Full Post »

The Best Beaches

We are pleased to announce that the site ” The Best Beaches in the World” now covers Taboga Island and B&B Hotel Cerrito Tropical in both their English and Spanish sites. These sites describe many of the finest beach areas in Panama and offers information on other things to do as well. Drop by the site and check it out.

the-best-beaches

Read Full Post »

22% of the World´s Ships are Flying the Panamanian Flag

Panama has 22% of the World´s Ships Flying its Flag
Machine translated from the original article in La Prensa:

Wilfredo Jordán S.
wjordan@prensa.com
http://mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2009/08/18/hoy/Negocios/1891335.asp

In 2004 there were 6061 ships registered by the Panama. Now, in agreement with the official registries, there are 8661 ships.

Between 2004 and what goes of 2009, Panama registered 2600 ships and about 40 million tons of gross registry, that means a growth of 41% in this period. At the closing of 2004, 6061 ships registered by Panama with 168 million tons of gross registry existed. At the moment the country has 8661 ships with 202,979,000 tons. These numbers represent 22% of the world-wide marine fleet, in comparison with the main competitors of Panama: Liberia, that has a registry of 2639 ships and Marshall Island, with a count with 1612. “We have like the Government, the commitment that the income from this institution gets to the people who need it”, the administrator of the AMP, Linares Robert commented. The approximated net income of the AMP by the registry of ships calculate in 80 million dollars a year. In 2004 this income was 52 million dollars and in 2008 it went up to around the 78 million dollars. In indirect income, it is calculated that the registry of ships generates more than 100 million dollars a year. If the smaller ships of 100 tons are included, Panama has more than thousand registries.

Ships Registered under the Panamanian Flag

Read Full Post »

Eco-Friendly: Combat Coastal Erosian and Create Artificial Reefs

Helping Protect Our Earth, One Step at a Time.

Thought provoking ideas from two men ahead of their time but with ideas not out of reach:

PREVENTING COASTAL EROSIAN
Rohit Talwar and Ian Pearson
An Authorized Repost on Destination Panama thanks to The Fast Future Bulletin July 2009

In this article we propose an alternative approach to tackling coastal erosion around the globe which would also cut carbon emissions and reduce plastic levels in landfill and waste dumps.

The latest nightmare environmental forecasts suggest that much of the UK coastline will be affected by severe erosion. Indeed, some parts of the Norfolk coast are already suffering dramatic erosion. The official policy is not to protect such areas, but to allow erosion, for various reasons. In areas where protection is needed, often, concrete blocks are dropped into the sea to absorb or deflect the wave energy.

A seemingly unrelated environmental problem is the disposal of plastic. Much is recycled now, but a lot still ends up in landfill sites or waste tips, which are filling up fast all over the world. Big concerns have also been raised over the potential for non-biodegradable plastic to remain in the environment for hundreds or thousands of years.

However with a bit of imagination, both of these problems could be tackled together. When plastic is recycled, it is gathered and compressed into cubes for easy handling and distribution. If these cubes were wrapped and weighted, they could be thrown into the sea instead of concrete blocks, solving several environmental problems at once. Concrete production consumes energy and produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, both of which would be averted. Raw material costs would be reduced since the plastic is waste and in plentiful supply. It would hang around in the sea for many years, and as the blocks accumulate, they would provide an artificial reef, before becoming a good base for reclaimed land, while reversing the erosion process. During this time, the plastic blocks would be locking up carbon, making the plastic ‘reef’ carbon negative, as compared to the carbon neutral recycling process. And of course, landfill would not fill up as fast.

A plastic reef could be used to effectively seal off a region of coastal sea, making it possible to use it as landfill for other kinds of waste without the danger of sea pollution. This would accelerate the creation of reclaimed land as well as creating more landfill capacity.

One major obstacle is that under EU law, it is currently illegal to dump plastic in the sea. At the same time, landfill is highly taxed. It would be very sensible to review both of these obstacles to make such solutions feasible, as there would be very substantial environmental benefits. It is ironic that laws designed to protect the environment are now the major obstacles to one environmental solution.

For more information please contact Rohit or Ian via these links:

http://community.icontact.com/p/fastfuture

http://www.linkedin.com/in/talwar

Read Full Post »

More on Cinta Costera, Panama City, July 1st 2009

Today the new Cinta Costera walkways along Ave. Balboa were packed with holiday goers (located on the Pacific Coast of Panama). This morning, hundreds of people walked, biked, jogged, played, skate boarded, roller bladed along the new walkways.

Today is the swearing in of the new Panamanian President Martinelli at the Atlapa Convention Center so it is a National Holiday in Panama (Canada Day as well- a holiday in Canada!).

SCROLL DOWN THE BLOG PAGE 2 STORIES TO MORE CINTA COSTERA PHOTOS.

Cooling off by the Cinta Costera Fountains in Panama City

Great spaces to Walk, Roll, Bike….. Cinta Costera

Kids playing at the Cinta Costera playground

Balboa Statue on Cinta Costera Parkway in Panama City, Panama

Read Full Post »

Live and Invest Overseas, Panama 2009

Speaking at the Live and Invest in Panama Conference

I was invited to speak at the Live and Invest Overseas Conference a while back in Panama City. The Conference was very well organized by Kathleen Peddicord and Lief Simon; attendees flew in mainly from North America for from several days to several weeks to explore Panama.

My subject this conference (I had spoken a number of times for previous International Living Conferences) was “Opening a Business in Panama – Our Experience”. We also set up an information table about Taboga Island and our B&B Inn Cerrito Tropical.

Conference Table for B&B Inn Cerrito Tropical

People often ask me, if not for financial gain, why do I speak publicly at these types of Expat / Investment conferences?
My answer is quite simply, I love the challenge of speaking to a large group, and the opportunity to speak about Taboga Island.

Expat

Read Full Post »

Walkways and Parkways in Panama; the New Cinta Costera

The New Cinta Costera in Panama City

Check it out when you have time. A super new area to walk, run, or bike along Panama Bay (Pacific Ocean side of Panama). The traffic is much improved with a beautiful new bypass for Avenida Balboa in Panama City. Nicely designed and much needed additions to Panama City – more green space, more parking, and a bypass through Chorillo and Cinco de Mayo direct to Amador and the Bridge of the Americas, and reverse – direct to the highway to the Tocumen Airport (Corredor Sur).

Walkways and Bike Paths

Parking lots

Read Full Post »