Information About Panama

Panama will be very familiar to you.

Panama’s government, modeled after the United States’, is a constitutional democracy with an executive, legislative and judicial branch.

• Political Risk Services named Panama one of the top three countries in the hemisphere for best-risk investments.

• According to The Fraser Institute in Canada, Panama is at the top of the list of the world’s freest economies, ranked eighth with Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

• Panama has the 2nd largest number of offshore-registered companies after Hong Kong.

• Over 40 banking laws exist in Panama to protect the business nature of foreigners, such as banking privacy laws, as well as foreign/local investor equality laws.

• The largest building in Latin America, a 350-meter (1148 ft), 97-story tower, called Palacio de Bahia (Bay Palace) will be built in Panama City, at an estimated cost of US$130 million. The tower will host a hotel, offices, shops, a rotating restaurant, a heliport and offer views of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans from the upper stories.

• More than 30% of Panama is protected through 15 national parks, 5 forest preserves and 10 wildlife refuges.

• Panama has 3,502 miles (5,637 kilometers) of coastline and more than 1,518 islands (1,023 in the Caribbean and 495 in the Pacific)

• At its narrowest distance, only 50 miles (80 kilometers) of land separates the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean.

• More species of birds live in Panama than in the United States and Canada combined!

• UNESCO has declared five different areas within Panama World Heritage sites.

• Panama is a naturalist’s paradise! It is home to over 10,000 different plant species, including 1,200 varieties of orchids, 678 ferns and more than 1,500 varieties of trees.