Although the American calendar has a slew of holidays, there are only two on the books where most businesses are actually closed--Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Some holidays-- like Memorial Day or Labor Day--are holidays for 9-to-5 workers but are extra-busy for people who work retail or hospitality. Other holidays--like Secretary's Day or Grandparent's Day--are largely ignored by all but a few people.

In Panama, holidays are treated like holy days. In fact, the calendar is chalk-full of holidays that are vacation days for everyone. For example, everything is closed for five solid days in February to celebrate Carnival, including stores, restaurants and even streets. Panamanians spend days dancing in the streets, listening to loud festive music, and shooting fireworks. In November, there are five separate holidays in the first five days of the month which constitute a 5-day vacation from work. Need something dry cleaned or notarized? Better do it before Halloween or you'll have to wait a week. 


Panama isn't a "manana" culture. In fact, most people work a five-and-a-half-day workweek. For a country that puts in that many work hours, real downtime makes sense. 


I'm about to celebrate my third Christmas in Panama, so I'm getting used to the pace. Going shopping on a holiday is very American; something you need to shed like a skin once you get here. Although newbies (myself included) get annoyed when they can't get instant gratification during a holiday period, once the holiday schedule is embraced it's rather refreshing. Instead of spending holidays running errands or shopping frenetically, holidays are spent relaxing, going to the beach, enjoying family and friends, and feasting. 

Stay tuned to my next blog for a full list of Panama Holidays.

The Panama Canal is what helped shape Panama into what it is today, and has been called the eighth wonder of the world. In National Geographic’s 100 Journeys of a Lifetime, the Panama Canal was listed as must-see Journey Number 5. Having been to the Panama Canal dozens of times, I am awestruck at how something so spectacular was created a hundred years ago.

The Panama Canal is a lock system that lifts a ship up 85 feet to the main level of the Panama Canal through a series of three “locks” or watertight chambers. After traveling through Lake Gatun, a second series of three locks drop the ship back down to sea level on the other side.

In 1914, the Panama Canal changed the course of history. Since then, it has been so influential in the shipping industry that the term “Panamax” was coined to signify that the ship was the maximum size to fit through the Panama Canal. For decades shipbuilders stayed within the Panamax size specifications and wouldn’t build anything larger.

The $5.2 billion expansion project of the Panama Canal is creating a new lane which connects the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The new locks will be thirty percent larger than the current locks in order to allow ships larger than Panamax to travel through the Panama Canal. To give you an idea of the size, you can fit three Empire State Buildings end-to-end within its chambers.

To give you an idea of the scope of this 7-year project (for people like me who don’t understand what it takes to create a new bike, let alone an entire new shipping channel), here are some of the pieces of the Panama Canal puzzle.

• Fifty million cubic meters of land had to be extracted using explosives and moved via truck in order to make the new canal lane possible.
  
• Lake Gatun had to be raised. (Every try to raise an entire lake!?!)
  
• The two existing lanes are being dredged in order to deepen and widen them, which will allow ships larger than Panamax to travel through the Panama Canal. 
  

When complete in 2015, the expansion will double the ship capacity and allow larger ships to pass through. 

No trip to Panama is complete without a trip to the Panama Canal. When you come to Panama, make sure you plan your trip to the Panama Canal on a late afternoon during the week when it's not raining. This will help you get maximum enjoyment without the hassle of weekend crowds.

The former Howard Air Face Base has been converted into a special economic area called Panama Pacifico. It is located near the entrance to the Panama Canal on the Pacific Ocean side, just over the Bridge of the Americas from Panama City.

Panama Pacifico is a 1,400 hectare (almost 3,500 acres) business park that combines office space, warehouse facilities and residential housing. This is a multi-decade project that currently includes schools, a gas station, restaurants, and a large lifestyle gym. When the project is fully complete, it will resemble a small city, with everything you need to live, work and play within one area.

The benefits of being located within Panama Pacifico include the following tax exemptions, good for 10 years:

• Income taxes
  
• Import duties
  
• Stamp tax
  
• Real estate taxes
  
• Remittance tax
  
• International calling tax
  
• Dividend taxes
  

Sounds good, huh. To qualify as a tax-exempt business, your business needs to be involved in one of these industries:

• Offshore services
• Call center
  
• Multimodal & logistics services
• Back office services
• Data & digital transmission
  
• High tech manufacturing & assembly
  
• Maritime services
  
• Aviation services
  

To see if your company qualifies, contact me and let’s arrange for a tour. I can introduce you to the people at Panama Pacifico who can help register your company and get the approvals necessary.

There are many reasons to do business in Panama, no matter what your business is. But, depending on the type of business you have, you could qualify for even more tax savings. 

Since we’re dealing with generalities, I’ll start with a bullet point list of reasons to do business in Panama. For more information about your specific business, I will refer you to a business attorney that can help you.

• Tax Haven. If you haven’t explored the benefits of a tax haven country yet, prepare to fall in love. Panama is a tax haven, which means there are no taxes on profits earned in Panama. This is only the start, though. There are also no capital gains tax on offshore investments, no interest income tax, no inheritance tax, no gift tax, and no estate taxes. 
  
• No Currency Restrictions. You can move your money in and out of Panama as often as you want to. Plus, the Panama banks are able to hold your money in any major currency. 
  
• International Banking. Panama has the second largest international banking center in the world. (Switzerland has the largest.)
  
• Few Frivolous Lawsuits. The U.S. has the largest number of law suits per capita, which means that businesses have to plan for lawsuit insurance, attorneys, and frivolous lawsuits. In fact, 9 out of every 10 lawsuits filed in the world are filed in the U.S. (Other lawsuit-happy countries are the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.) This is not the case in Panama, whose laws make it difficult to sue. If someone were to sue your Panama corporation, they would have to post a court bond of 20-30% of the value of the claim. They would then have to file a brief justifying the law suit. If the brief doesn’t prove to the judge that there is a reason to sue, the lawsuit won’t be allowed to proceed. If the lawsuit does move forward but the person suing loses, then they lose the 20%-30% court bond. OUCH! No wonder there are so few frivolous lawsuits in Panama.
  
• Tax Free Zones. Panama has the world’s second largest tax free zone. (Hong Kong has the largest.) 
  
• Strategic Location. You already know that Panama is located in the center of the Americas and is home to the Panama Canal, a major thoroughfare for commerce. You also know that Panama is easy to access from most Western cities and is on the same time zone as either Dallas or New York, depending on the time of year. But what you may not know is how easy Panama is to navigate. This is where a firsthand reconnaissance trip comes in handy. Wait until you see how strategic Panama is to your business.
  
• Foreigner Friendly. There are no laws restricting foreigners from owning businesses in Panama. Plus, all shareholders and directors in a company can be foreigners.
  
• Inexpensive Business Startup. Starting a new company is fast, easy and inexpensive. Just open a corporation and a business bank account. After that, Panama corporations pay a low annual corporate franchise tax of $300 per year. Once your business is up and running, local labor, commercial rentals, utilities, real estate, and construction costs are all much lower than North America and Europe. 
  
• Corporate Privacy. Panama does not allow “piercing the corporate veil.” Your corporate books are 100% private.
  
• Limited Liability. If your Panama corporation is sued, the shareholders are not personally liable.
  

This list just scratches the proverbial surface of how business friendly Panama really is. If you want more information, contact me. I'll create a personalized private tour just for you that includes anything you want to see--including tax free zones and commercial real estate--and facilitate meetings with attorneys or other business entities you might need to meet with. We'll even make sure you have a car and driver.

There is no extra charge for this service. It's all part of the Panama Relocation Concierge personal touch.

Need a medical procedure that's on the pricey side? If you'd rather cough up furr balls than fork over the tens of thousands it will cost you in North America, you're not alone. Before you pull your claws out, relax... there is a solution. Become a tourist... a medical tourist.

What is medical tourism? It's a a new term for when people travel for medical treatment. Medical tourism may sound new, but it isn’t a new phenomenon. According to the history books (since I wasn't around personally to verify), Ancient Mesopotamians  traveled to Syria in search of a cure for eye disorders as early as the third millennium B.C. Flip a few pages in those same history books and you'll learn that the Greeks and Romans traveled to spas all around the Mediterranean in search of cures. If you've watched at least one 18th century movie in your life, you'll also recall that upper class Europeans traveled to spa destinations—such as Bath and St. Moritz—to cure their ills by taking the waters and reveling in the temperate climates.

In our lifetimes (aka the twentieth century), wealthy folks of underdeveloped nations traveled to first-world countries in order to get the best treatment money could buy. After all, what's the use of having money if you can't spend it on the best! But the tide has turned over the past decade and a half. People are primarily traveling outside of their native first-world country for a more affordable treatment in a developing nation.

Getting less expensive medical procedures through medical tourism is on the rise because of an aging population combined with rising healthcare costs in countries like the United States. According to Deloitte consulting services, 875,000 Americans were medical tourists in 2010. 

Although medical tourism destinations include countries such as Thailand, South Africa and Hungary, one of the most popular medical tourism destinations is Panama. Why Panama? Because Panama is a relatively Americanized country with an English-speaking medical community.

According to a report on medical tourism published by the National Center for Policy Analysis, procedures can be 40 to 70 percent cheaper in Panama than in the U.S. For example, an $80,000 dental implant procedure in America will cost about $25,000 in Panama. For the uninsured—and the underinsured—this savings is worth the cost of a short vacation to Panama.

All types of medical procedures are available in Panama. Elective procedures such as dental implants, cataract surgery, and cosmetic surgery are in the media's spotlight, but more acute conditions such as knee replacements and open heart surgery are also available. Other procedures that top the list are those not covered by traditional insurance, such as fertility treatments and even stem cell therapy.

There are many reasons Panama is a popular medical tourism destination.

• Panama is tourist friendly. It’s easy to get in and out of Panama, as there are direct flights from most major Western cities. Plus, most people do not need to apply for a tourist visa.
• Panama is safe. Panama is as safe for tourists as any big city in the U.S.
• Panama is English friendly. Many people in Panama speak English as a second language, from taxi drivers to hotel staff to doctors and nurses.
• Many doctors are Western-trained. Not only do most doctors in Panama speak English, but many have been trained in the United States.
  
• Panama City has first-world infrastructure. Panama City has modern highways, high-speed Internet, high-end shopping malls, top-notch restaurants.
• Panama has high-end hotels and condo rentals where patients can recover. Patients have choices such as 4- and 5-star hotels, such as the Waldorf Astoria, the Westin, and the InterContinental. They can also stay in beachfront rentals for as little as $100 per night.
  
• The tap water is safe to drink. This is a rarity in Latin America, and it also means that the produce is safe to eat.
  
• Panama has a stable economy. Panama's currency is based on the U.S. Dollar, and unemployment is at an all-time low. 
• Panama has accredited hospitals and U.S. Hospital Affiliations. Many hospitals have an accreditation on par with top hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. Plus, other hospitals have U.S. affiliations. For example, the Hospital Punta Pacifica is affiliated with Johns Hopkins International.

Medical tourism has done a lot to improve the quality of care in Panama, especially in Panama City. Plus, the tourist dollars are helping the economy. 

Panama has invested in technology, accreditation and infrastructure, making it a prime medical tourism destination. If you are interested in medical tourism, we can help. Contact us and let us know what you're interested in, and we will help you navigate the waters.

Octopus is very popular on the menus in Panama. What is it like to eat octopus? The texture is more like ceviche than chewy muscle if it's prepared correctly. In fact, if you didn't know what you were eating, you might assume it was white fish.

When you order octopus at a restaurant in Panama, you typically get less mass on your plate than you would if you ordered fish, but if it's cooked right, each bite is delectable. It can be served diced into bite-sized pieces (like in the photo shown on this blog) or as whole tentacles. If you are a newbie to octopus in Panama, be sure to order it diced so your preconceived notions don't get in the way of your enjoyment.

Before I moved to Panama, a very good friend of mine, Stacey Wetzel of Cater 10,  cooked octopus for me in the Dallas, Texas. If octopus is cooked poorly, it is an inedible, tough muscle. There are several tricks for making it tender. One trick that Chef Stacey swears by is boiling it for several hours in beer. 

Once octopus is tenderized, it can be cooked just like a fish. I’ve had it grilled (probably my favorite), sautéed in butter, and served with a variety of sauces, from pesto to remoulade to chef's surprise. Yesterday our dinner was at a French restaurant so the octopus was sautéed in butter, pesto and garlic. The restaurant we went to was amazing, so the octopus was as tender as sea bass. 

If you haven't tasted octopus, be sure to try it soon... hopefully in Panama!