PanamCham.com
Title
PanamCham
Description
Panama has one of the brightest futures of any country in the Americas and we are becoming one of the most popular tourist destinations in the hemisphere. In addition to reaping the many economic benefits from tourism and the heavily anticipated canal expansion, Panama is poised to expand in the critical areas of free trade, larger ports, and even our airport at Tocumen is undergoing a major face lift that will squarely place it into the modern world. Foreign investment in Panama, which is now more than a billion dollars per year, is expected to break all records each of the next five years. New skyscrapers are dotting our horizon every day. In fact, we have so much going right for us that it would be difficult to miss this great opportunity.
While our economy is booming the one factor that could turn all of the positives into a negative is our old nemesis, CORRUPTION. We need to focus on turning the tide against this parasitic cancer that has infected every branch of government. From judges, legislators, policemen and tránsito cops, to everyday bureaucrats and throughout our dysfunctional judicial system and over-staffed municipalities. In short, corruption is epidemic. It lurks on every corner, infects every segment of society and the government needs to structure a radical change in attitude and performance. As a high-ranking government official commented to our AmCham Board of Directors, We are fighting corruption... but corruption is fighting back. To me, that statement alone illustrates the degree of arrogance that corruption has created among the corrupt. It’s as if the corrupt will openly challenge the peoples right to investigate or change their status quo.
According to an ex minister of labor...if an employee is terminated for theft, the employer has to pay 100% of benefits due, the total of accrued rights, even before you recover what the employee stole. In another area, legislators can bring in duty free cars and illegally sell the duty-free exoneration. This has gone on for years, yet have any legislators been sent to jail? From the CEMIS scandal to the Durodólares, judges with fake law degrees, legislators with botella jobs for spouses, improperly unsecured friendly loans from the Banco Nacional, social security scandals...it’s enough for a generation of steamy novelas.
