Thanks to the Tico Times for this information.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli says his nation has made enormous strides in the fight against corruption, crime and drug trafficking in the two years since he took office.

Speaking to a packed crowed the day after meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, Martinelli said his no-nonsense “law and order” approach has yielded impressive results.

“This is the first time Panama has ever been run by a businessman,” said the 59-year-old Martinelli, a self-made millionaire and chairman of Panama’s Super 99 grocery chain. “Usually in Latin America, the politicians become businessmen after they leave office, but this was the other way around.”

Martinelli was visiting the United States in order to urge the White House and Congress to push for a free-trade agreement between the two countries, which – if passed – would dramatically increase U.S.-Panamanian trade and attract foreign investment, he said.

“We don’t expect any difficulty at all getting it approved. I believe it will go through in the next 60 to 90 days. It’s a no-brainer. I don’t see how little Panama can hurt the U.S. job market. On the contrary, it will create more jobs for the U.S. economy.”

The president boasted that his government has cracked down on price-fixing, illegal kickbacks, tax fraud and corruption within Panama’s police force – a problem that seems to have grown with the arrival of thousands of foreign workers taking advantage of Panama’s rapidly expanding economy, which grew 9 percent last year.

“We regularized a lot of illegal immigrants that were here,” he said. “They were using our schools, our hospitals and our roads but were paying no taxes. That was also a big source of corruption. Every time they were stopped in the streets and asked for IDs, they bribed the officers.”

Now, he said, visitors are permitted to stay in Panama for up to 180 days before having to renew their visas.

“We can proudly say that when we got into power, there was a lot of insecurity, homicide rates were going up and the police were badly motivated because they were not paid well enough. The first thing we did was increase police salaries by 25 percent.”

He added that “Panama is going to be the showcase of programs like facial recognition at the airport, whereby any person who goes there will be connected to databases like FBI and Interpol, and we’ll be able to tell if he’s a drug dealer or a killer.”

According to Martinelli, Great Britain seized 12 tons of cocaine last year, and the United States 28 tons. By comparison, he said, “In one year, Panama catches well over 75 tons. And every ounce of cocaine we seize means less drugs and less crime in the streets of the United States.”

The fact that Panama shares a jungle border with Colombia – the world’s largest source of cocaine – makes it Central America’s first line of defense against drug traffickers.

“We don’t need money. We have all the resources to combat trafficking,” Martinelli told his largely sympathetic audience. “We recently bought six patrol boats from Italy worth more than $200 million. We’re also buying radars and helicopters in order to engage the narco-traffickers. Close to 7 percent of our people have dual U.S.-Panamanian citizenship, so whatever we do in security helps reduce crime and drug trafficking in the U.S.”

Martinelli, whose five-year term of office expires in mid-2014, said Panama now ranks as the second-most competitive economy in Latin America after Chile, and is one of the few countries in the region with investment-grade bond ratings. As such, expanding Panama’s service-based economy is a top priority for his administration – and the planned $5.3 billion expansion of the Panama Canal will pump tens of billions of dollars into the country in coming decades.

“The canal represents 8 percent of our GDP, and this year, the Colón Free Zone will do $27 billion in business,” he explained. “And regarding the canal’s expansion, more money is being spent in the United States than in Panama, because all U.S. ports will have to increase their draught in order to accommodate the world’s largest ships. In Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, a bridge worth over $1 billion has to be built to accommodate post-Panamax ships. The East Coast of the U.S. will greatly appreciate the expansion because it’s very difficult to get merchandise from China, put it on a truck. It costs money and pollutes the environment instead of going through the canal.”

In short, said Martinelli, “if I pay, you pay. If I don’t pay, then you don’t pay. We got our house in order by tying the knots, closing the loopholes and telling people the hanky-panky was over, and by telling the drug traffickers there’s no more tolerance for them. We are catching them and sending them back to Colombia. Everybody’s paying taxes now. Our tax base has increased substantially.”

At the same time, a dramatic increase in tourism – two million foreign visitors are expected to visit Panama this year – has generated revenues to pay for badly needed improvements, including an expansion of Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport.

“Before, if I wanted to go to Aruba or Buenos Aires, I’d have to fly through Miami. But our local airline Copa has bought 39 planes, and Panama is now one of Latin America’s largest hubs. By 2014, well over 14 million passengers will go through that airport,” he said. “Panamanians coming into the U.S. will soon be able to put their passports through a machine in Panama and won’t have to go through Customs once they arrive into the United States.”

On top of that, he said, “you can now find any brand of hotel in Panama from A to Z. Even a Waldorf-Astoria is being built. It’s a new country and everything is being done through a vision of change – but the change has to start from within.”

Asked about potential terrorist attacks against the Panama Canal, Martinelli does not appear to be losing much sleep over that issue.

“The Panama Canal is a neutral place. This waterway serves humanity, but to tell you the truth, it’s almost impossible to say that the canal is fully protected. Look what happened on 9/11,” the president said in response to a reporter’s question. “I don’t believe the canal is on the agenda of any terrorist group. We work in close coordination with the shipping companies, but if someone puts a bomb on a ship and detonates that bomb within the locks in a kamikaze attack, nobody can do anything about it.”

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This article came out awhile ago but is one of the best about Panama today.

36 HOURS IN PANAMA

By Denny Lee

PANAMANIANS joke that the McDonald’s franchises and glass skyscrapers make Panama City the “Miami of the South,” except that more English is spoken here. But more than a decade and a half after an American invasion leveled part of the city and about six years after United States troops pulled out of the country and ceded control of the Panama Canal, the city is asserting itself as a tourist destination, not just a scenic overpass for an engineered waterway. Fashionable hotels now dot the cosmopolitan skyline. Crumbling colonial homes are being polished into bohemian gems. Emerald rain forests woo eco-tourists. There might even be a Frank Gehry-designed museum in the future, with the hope of sparking a so-called “Bilbao effect” for the port of Balboa. For now, anyway, Panama City hasn’t been overrun by tourists. But with daily direct flights from about six cities in the United States, including New York, Newark and Los Angeles, that might not last.

Friday
4 p.m.
1) Colonial Explorer

Go back to the future with a stroll through the cobblestone alleys of Casco Viejo, a colonial-era neighborhood frequented by snow-cone vendors. Abandoned by the city’s elite in the 1950’s, the area became a squatters’ slum. In recent years, however, artists, professionals and snowbirds have turned skid row into real estate gold. Among the prominent residents is Rubén Blades, the musician and actor who is now the country’s minister of tourism. Take a taxi to the Plaza de Francia, at the peninsula’s tip. From there, you can walk to the Golden Altar at the San Jose Church (Avenida A and Calle 8a Este), one of the few treasures that wasn’t ransacked by Henry Morgan, the pirate captain, in 1671; the heron-infested presidential palace (Avenida 4 and Calle Eloj); and the slick if encyclopedic Interoceanic Canal Museum (Plaza de la Independencia, 507-211-1649).

6:30 p.m.
2) Cerveza Garden
After wilting in the tropical heat, grab a cold Atlas beer at La Casona de las Brujas (Plaza Herrera), one of the trendy lounges and cafes that have sprung up in Casco Viejo. This one has a raw gallery upfront (photographs of local artisans were recently on display), and a concrete garden out back, lending it a transitional East Berlin flavor that goes well with the artsy crowd. Guitar bands take over a makeshift stage at night, playing a brash mix of “rock de Panamá.”

8:30 p.m.
3) Dinner and Dancing
For Panamanian cooking (similar to Cuban with a lot of seafood), try Tinajas Restaurant (22 Calle 51, 507-263-7890) in El Cangrejo, the central banking district. National staples like corbina ceviche ($4), jumbo shrimps in coconut sauce ($12.50) and ropa vieja ($7.50), spicy shredded beef over rice, are served accompanied by live folkloric dancing in a homey atmosphere. The costumed dance begins at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

11 p.m.
4) Hit the Clubs
Like South Beach in Miami, Panama City has its share of velvet ropes, although the lower model quotient provides for less attitude. Many doors don’t open until 11 p.m., so for a preclub cocktail drop by the Martini Bar at the Radisson Decapolis Hotel (Avenida Balboa, 507-215-5000) and watch the city’s peacocks preen on bright orange sofas. After a martini ($6 to $9) or two, many head to nearby Calle Uruguay, where there are no fewer than a dozen hot spots catering to straights, gays, punks and fashionistas. At Moods (Calle 48 and Calle Uruguay, 507-263-4923), the stiletto-heeled and open-collared partygoers grind their hips to Panamanian reggae until dawn.

Saturday
10 a.m.
5) Café con Leche
Suppress your urge for an Egg McMuffin and nurse your hangover at El Trapiche (Vía Argentina, 507-269-4353), a busy diner in El Cangrejo, for a hearty breakfast of carimañola, a savory roll made of mashed yucca and stuffed with ground beef and boiled eggs, and a side of corn tortillas, which look more like silver-dollar pancakes than taco shells. The bill should come to under $8, even with a second café con leche.

Noon
6) Boat Spotting
No trip to Panama City is complete without a visit to the Panama Canal. Instead of standing around in your fanny pack, have lunch at the Miraflores Locks, the southernmost of three sets of water elevators that fill and drain as ships wend their way between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by way of the Caribbean Sea. Just five miles from the city’s center, the new Miraflores Visitor Center (507-276-8427) is home to a multilevel exhibition and a third-floor restaurant (507-232-3120; shown top left) where you almost touch the passing vessels while you refuel. To ensure a choice table, call the restaurant for reservations (the lunch buffet is $17); you can also call the center for the day’s scheduled crossings.

2 p.m.
7) Suburban Jungle
To complete your self-guided tour, go halfway up the 50-mile-long canal to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort (507-314-9000), a 340-acre nature reserve complete with an aerial tram that slices through the Soberanía National Park, a Tarzan-like jungle that is home to a staggering 500-plus species of birds. An observation tower offers another bird’s-eye view. Situated 30 minutes from the city center, the resort is as idyllic and unspoiled as downtown Panama City is hurried and urban.

5:30 p.m.
Sunset Strip
As the day wanes, there’s no better place to rejuvenate than the mile-long Amador Causeway, which juts out between the canal and Panama Bay. Made from rocks excavated from the channel, the three connecting islands form an esplanade of parks, cafes, oceanfront condos and a new cruise ship terminal. By day, bicyclists ride and joggers stride along the narrow roadway, soaking in the dazzling views of the city’s crescent-shaped waterfront - a veritable timeline that spans from 17th-century steeples and fishing nooks to modern office towers and airy penthouses. By night, the distant skyline comes alive like twinkling stars.
9) Fancy Fusion
For a memorable meal, take a cab to Eurasia (Calle 48, 507-264-7859) in the busy central district of Bella Vista. Reflecting the city’s immigrant stew, this Chinese-owned restaurant marries local ingredients with French techniques and Asian flavors. Favorites include a gravlax timbale filled with a passion fruit-cured ceviche ($12.50), and cornmeal-encrusted prawns in a tamarind and coconut sauce ($15.50). The stately dining room has marble floors and handsome artworks that evoke a colonial manor.

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David Rochkind/Polaris, for The New York Times

La Casona de las Brujas (Plaza Herrera) is one of the trendy lounges and cafes that have sprung up in Casco Viejo.

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11 p.m.
10) Ships That Pass in the Night
If you still have the energy, pop back to the causeway, to the Fort Amador Resort and Marina, located at its tip. For a civilized nightcap, head to the bar at Café Barko (507-314-0000), where the crowd ranges from fun-loving locals to chatty cruise passengers. Should a second wind strike, there are several dance clubs in the entertainment complex, including Alcatraz, a popular nightclub for well-heeled club kids.

Sunday
10 a.m.
11) Old Panama Hat
History buffs won’t want to miss the tombstone-like ruins of Panamá Viejo, the original 1519 Spanish settlement sunken along the eastern fringes of the modern city. A Unesco World Heritage Site, its stumpy walls resemble a sprawling Central American Stonehenge. When your camera runs out of memory, check out the nearby artisanal market for last-minute souvenirs.

The Basics

Direct flights from Newark Liberty International Airport to Panama City take about five hours. Tocumen International Airport is about 12 miles northeast of the city center, reachable by taxi for about $25 (the United States dollar is used in Panama).

Although there are buses, routes are not clearly marked. Taxis are cheap and should run under $5 for most trips. If you find a driver you like, consider hiring that person for as little as $40 for part of the day.

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Feeling cool again in Bocas del Toro:

Day trips are cheap and fabulous from this funky island town

 I don’t know how they do it but y0ung backpackers are the first to find about these places. Before the luxury hotels spring up and cruise ships sail in, they are there.

The little funky town of Bocas del Toro in Panama was full of them. I don’t think they are called hippies these days, but they do remind me of the ’60s. I like to think of myself as having been a hippie.

My husband Dan and I were taking a three-week vacation in Panama. Before my research on the Internet, the only things I had known about Panama was that it was famous for its canal, it was in the same time zone as Ottawa, and it was warm.

I read that Bocas del Toro, on the island of Colón, had retained its original charm in spite of becoming a popular destination. Our kind of place: a small town with a laidback Caribbean vibe set in an archipelago of idyllic beauty, a place where we could just be easy, soak up some sun and eat catchof-the-day with perhaps a piña colada or margarita. We booked eight days at a hotel on the main street.

Bocas lived up to its reputation and made me smile as I felt transported back in time.

This colourful town seems to have as many hostels as hotels. Hostels such as the Gran Kahuna and Calypso stand on the main street alongside little shops with multicoloured woven hammocks, amateurish paintings and an assortment of earrings and bracelets. Brightly painted wooden buildings house restaurants with eating areas on stilts over the ocean. Water taxis outnumber land taxis by 10 to one.

Read the rest of the story here:

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Feeling+cool+again+Bocas+Toro/4602791/story.html

TIPS:Go in the dry season, between January and April.

Pack light. There are weight restrictions on internal flights.

U.S. dollars are the legal currency.

More: www.panamainfo.com

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“President Martinelli wants Panama to be known as the next Miami as a shopping and airline hub; the next Chile for copper exports; the next Dubai as a business and real estate capital; the next Rotterdam as a shipping hub; and the next Singapore as a global logistics center.

“We are seeking our own path in the world, but we have to copy the good things that other countries have done, for example what Singapore has done and what the Dominican Republic has done in tourism,” Martinelli told the Monitor following the recent investors conference, “Panama: Where the World Meets.”

 Though it sounds like a tall order, Panama, which enjoyed 7.5 percent economic growth last year – more than double the Central American average – seems up to the challenge. According to projections from the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, Panama will lead the region in economic growth over the next five years, thanks in large part to a five-year, $20 billion public-investment plan highlighted by a $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, to finish in 2014.

But there are signs that this pro-business government can’t have everything it wants all at once.

On March 3, Martinelli reluctantly announced his government was repealing its controversial Reforms to the Mining Code (Law – an initiative that his administration had hoped would bring in billions of dollars in revenue and convert Panama into one of the largest mining nations in Latin America within 20 to 30 years.

Backpedaling on it and the mining law are indications, he insists, that his government is listening to the people. Analysts, however, claim the reversals are more a symptom of his government’s failure to consult civil society on projects that don’t necessarily jibe with Panama’s culture or traditional development model. And it’s giving some the impression of an erratic government that is shooting out in all directions. “

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0323/What-Obama-missed-by-skipping-Panama-in-Latin-America-tour

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In just 45 days the new National terminal at Tocumen International airport will open. This means that you will be able to book one ticket -Your country-David (near Boquete) via Tocumen International  or Your country- Bocas del Toro  via Tocumen .  You will fly into  Tocumen  in the morning and fly to David or Bocas in the afternoon. You can buy your ticket with both flights included.

The big savings is in time and money- it will no longer be necessary to stay overnight in Panama City and then fly the next morning to David or Bocas.

Thank you to our tourism minister Salomon Shamah and Copa Airlines for making this all possible.

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To solidify Panama’s position as the Business Hub of the Americas and to attract more foreign investment, Panama has launched  an advertising campaign designed to highlight the country as an attractive investment destination for U.S. investors by contrasting continued instability in international markets with Panama’s stable, growing and highly competitive economy. The first phase of the “Panama: Where The World Meets” campaign is being launched with full page ads in the Wall Street Journal, Politico and Roll Call newspapers and across a spectrum of online news sites promoting the country’s upgrade to an Investment Grade rating this year.

“Panama’s dollar economy, our infrastructure, our simplified tax structure and of course our location make us a great and attractive place for new investments and global economic development,” said Ricardo Martinelli, president of the Republic of Panama, in an introductory message on the campaign’s website, www.meetpanama.com.pa.

Panama was rated as the 2nd most competitive economy in Latin America by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011. It’s expected to almost double its GDP between 2009 and 2010 and the International Monetary Fund projects that Panama will have the fastest growing economy in Latin America by 2015.

During his first year in office, President Martinelli led a major tax reform effort that simplified structures and cut corporate rates and began implementing a 5-year, $13.6 billion infrastructure investment plan that will significantly modernize and diversify Panama’s strong logistics capabilities. The combination of those factors led to an upgrade in Panama’s sovereign debt rating to Investment Grad

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Panama just won the ninth spot as a new dining destination. I couldn’t agree more. We have lived all over Latin America and I place Panama as # 3 for fine dining after Argentina and Brazil.  (Mexico has great Mexican food- but that’s it.)

Panama has an incredible variety of fine cuisine from Chinese, to seafood and  steak houses to Italian. Panama’s local cuisine gets top international accolades at places like Barrandas at the Bristol Hotel where the chef is award winning Cuquita Arias.  It is fun just thinking about where one can dine out in Panama City.

Check out our Panama City Restaurants Picks page” http://panamainfo.com/en/panama-city-restaurant-picks

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If you’re planning an upcoming trip to Panama, you can travel feeling a little safer. Panama has just introduced a new program  that provides emergency medical insurance for tourists during the first 30 days of their stay.

Panama provides the service through the distribution of cards. All visitors who arrive  at Panama City’s Tocumen airport, can pick up a user card from the tourist information center. If an accident takes place during their visit, they simply have to present this card, along with their passport to receive care.

The insurance covers accidental death (up to $20,000,) hospitalization, medical expenses (up to $7,000,) and dental emergencies (up to $2,000.) The policy is provided by the insurance company Assicurazioni Generali, which has a contract with the government through next two years.
The insurance still won’t cover accidents due to negligence, caused by drugs or alcohol, or that resulted from extreme sports.

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Canopy Tower Triumphs Again and Again

Puts Panama on the Map for Nature and Birding

You and Your Family Should Go

Congratulations to Canopy Tower and Raul Arias de Para. His amazing Canopy Tower has won more accolades than any other Panama tourism destination.

It doesn’t stop. Among other articles, Canopy Tower was recently featured in Newsweek magazine which has the largest circulation of any news magazine in the US.

Raul is now promoting nature experience tours.

If you and your family haven’t  yet  been to Canopy Tower, I recommend it.  It’s  the best nature experience in Panama and according to the international press, one of the best in the world.  It’s also close- less than an hour from Panama City.  www.canopytower.com Nancy

Recent Press About Canopy Tower

Going to the Birds

Newsweek November 2010

Today, a stay at the Canopy Tower is one of the premier ecotourism experiences in the world

Canopy Tower can be described only as a place where everyone falls in love with birds

You emerge through a hatch onto the observation deck, a dazzling 360-degree open-air walkway around the dome that provides a panoramic view of the rainforest canopy. Birder, bird watcher, nonbirder—on that deck it doesn’t matter, because the birds are all there, right in front of you at eye level. It is impossible not to be drawn in. My mom and I saw scores of avian species, but also howler monkeys, sloths, tamarins, all kinds of bats and butterflies—as well as freight ships making their way through the Panama Canal—without taking more than a few steps one way or another.

Los Angeles Times

One of the top 14 hotels in the world

The scene: Nirvana for birders and jungle junkies in the forest at Soberania National Park.

New York Times: October, 2009

Open the window of your room and probably less than 40 feet away are hundreds of bird species. “It’s incredible that you have such wilderness so close to the city

Some bird-watchers were saying that here, in a matter of days, they had seen as many species as they had in many other countries on many different occasions combined. The diversity is amazing.”

The Fodors 2010 Choice Award

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Red Frog Beach Resort is now one of Panama’s most attractive beach and eco-destinations.  To start it is on Red Frog Beach- arguably the most beautiful beach in Panama. What a view with its crashing waves, fringe of rainforest, white sand and deep azure waters. Secondly, Red Frog Resort  is the only place in Bocas where tourists can experience the Bocas del Toro  rainforest with their new Bastimientos Sky Canopy Zipline adventure which takes you up a lush jungle trail and then zipping through the jungle on 7 tree based ziplines, plus a ropes course, tarzan swing and an optional  high platform rappel.

I loved the plexiglass on wood signs on the zipline trail with info about Bastimientos  flor and fauna- the best signage I have seen anywhere in Panama.

The resort offers two extremely attractive lodging options. For the young and the budget mined, you can stay at the Bocas Bound Hostel with a dorm space for $13 or a suite for $100. The upscale choice and the gorgeous, fully equipped private  villas. The villas are ideal for a family, a romantic couple and for a surfing group with room for up to 7. They have amazing ocean and island views.

The staff is attentive and fun.

The restaurants are also a major attraction. One is Kayucos, with American favorites food and reasonable prices. It’s part of a large social area that is a big hit with families- a pool table, ping pong table, lots of board games, hammocks and  a free movie nightly. To top it off it has island views and fresh breezes.

The second restaurant Punta Lava is right on Red Frog Beach- good American food, an ample bar  and unbeatable beach  views.

Many kinds of tours are offered from the canopy zipline, to a cave tour to fishing. There is good to excellent  surfing near by- some places within walking distance.

The resort is  managed by a smart team in a sustainable, eco-friendly way so as not to disrupt the delicate ecology system  on Bastimientos Island.

Check it out at www.redfrogbeach.com

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