Jim Fall: Trip to Panama worth the wait
My long anticipated, and then slightly delayed, trip to Panama was everything I expected it would be — and more.
Aside from the reunion with my friend and classmate from military school, it was a real eye-opener. I don’t know exactly what I expected Panama City to be like, but I know it surpassed my wildest dreams.
My longtime friend and traveling companion from Houston, who is in the real estate and development business, was even more blown away by what we saw in Panama. He is more in tune with the complications and costs involved with the level of commercial and residential development that prevails throughout the city. It is totally amazing.
He said what we saw there represented the most current development activity anywhere in the world except Dubai and Hong Kong.
Being delayed a day getting out of Houston by passport regulations, I made the four-hour flight from Bush Intercontinental Airport to Panama City, on the Pacific (south) side of the isthmus, alone and got my first wakeup call when landing in Panama.
I was surprised at the apparent lack of sophistication at the terminal. Neither the exterior of the facility nor the runways and taxiways seemed quite up to what I had expected in the country of 3.5 million that has the third-largest economy in Central America. But, once inside the facility, I was immediately aware that, like the song says about Kansas City, “everything is up to date.”
I quickly began a three-day adventure that hardly allowed me time to catch my breath, or close my awe-stricken eyes. To say that Panama City, with its population of 1.5 million, is experiencing a real estate boom would be a total understatement.
More than 75 banks and other financial institutions are obviously fueling the tremendous growth in building. On one leg of a trip from the bustling, ultramodern downtown toward the airport, I counted at least 15 construction cranes sitting atop high-rise buildings in various stages of completion — and that was just through the front windshield.
Panama’s “balboa” currency is fixed at parity with the U.S. dollar. Panama was the first country in Latin America to link its money to the dollar, and that is attracting large investments from other Latin American countries, especially neighboring Colombia and Venezuela.
Panama is in the throes of its own presidential election — with 17 candidates and political signs everywhere. National elections are mandatory to all citizens 18 and older.
Since breaking away from Colombia in 1903, the Republic of Panama has endured a series of constitutional presidents as well as military dictators, the first being General Omar Torrijos — whose son, Martin, has served as president since 2004. The elder Torrijos was followed by several other military strongmen, the last being Gen. Manuel Noriega.
Noriega’s implications with drug trafficking led to the invasion of the country by the United States in 1989. Following the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties in 1977, the 85-year monopoly of United States’ control of the canal ended with the ultimate turn-over of U.S. interests in and operations of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999, with the agreement that the canal would remain neutral and that the United States could return at any time.
Panama’s financial position among Latin American countries should become even more prominent with the building of a third set of locks for the canal that will enable today’s larger cargo ships to navigate the thin link between the two hemispheres. The estimated cost of the new locks — $5.25 billion.
A Bilateral Investment Treaty between the U.S. and Panama was signed in 1982 to protect, and encourage, American investments in Panama. A free trade agreement signed by the two governments in 2007 is also pending.
Since building the Panama Canal from 1904 to 1914, the United States and Panama have been interlocked — and from the looks of things there today, they will remain that way for many years to come.
