Page 22 - Preview (PA)

ECONOMIYC OVERVIEW
Panama
at a Glance
2014 ESTIMATE
$45.6 BILLION GDP
6.8%
GDP
$12,038 GDP/Capita
3.7M
Population
$3.0 BILLION FDI Inflow
4.4%
Unemployment
3.8%
Inflation
Source: IMF, General Controllership of Panama
Panama is celebrating the centenary of the canal that made it a maritime, logistics, and trade hub—the 20th-century synonym for global connectivity—while rapidly expanding and refining the core components of 21st-century connectivity: updating its infrastructure, reforming its financial sector, expanding free trade agreements, and rolling out business-friendly government initiatives.
In the 20th century, Panama connected east and west via the canal and became a crucial trade hub. As the country seeks to be the logistics platform to the world in the 21st century, it is capitalizing on additional assets in data and finance to solidify its position for the future. In a 2014 report from the World Economic Forum, Panama ranked 48th in the world—and third in Latin America—in global economic competitiveness. The economy is dollarized, open, and stable; the Colón Free Trade Zone is second only to Hong Kong in volume; infrastructure building—the canal expansion and construction of the Panama City Metro top the list—is booming;
unemployment is low; and the country continues to negotiate both bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements that weave it ever more tightly into global commerce.
A three-tier economy
The fastest-expanding economy in all of the Americas has maintained robust annual growth in its gross domestic product (GDP) for the past decade. Real GDP increased at an average of more than 8 percent from 2006 to 2012, peaking at 12 percent in 2008 and bottoming out at around 3 percent in 2009. Panama’s 2013 GDP growth clocked in at 8.4 percent, down from 10.2 percent in 2012. According to the World Economic Outlook, released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April 2014, Panama’s GDP was projected to grow at a rate of 6.5 percent in 2014, the highest in the Americas. Experts agree that growth will slow as Panama’s major infrastructure projects ramp down
20 STRATEGY