Full opening by regions and not by blocks, reactivation of construction and the establishment of an emergency financial assistance plan are some of the proposals of the Panamanian business sector to face the economic and health crisis.

For the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede) the confinement measures do not manage to stop the advance of covid-19 transmission, but they do cause negative effects on employment levels in the country.

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If the economic activity continues with this trend, at the end of 2020 the economy will be facing an imminent disaster, with the loss of between 250,000 and 300,000 jobs, explains a statement from the Apede.

Laestrella.com.pa reviews that Apede estimates that MSMEs will be among the most affected in this crisis “… since they generate 59% of all jobs in the private sector, both formal and informal, and provide three out of every five new jobs generated in the last 5 years.”

The Apede proposes that important aspects for the reopening of the economy should be analyzed, among which the following stand out:

“-Full opening by regions. The block reopening scheme does not allow for effective reactivation, since many companies that have been allowed to open depend on the demand that will be generated by the activation of other blocks, preventing the expected reincorporation of workers.
-Reactivation of the construction sector due to its multiplying effect on the generation of jobs and its low risk of contagion, versus other activities, as it is developed in open spaces.
-Establish a detailed plan for emergency financial assistance through the banking sector that will make viable actions for the reopening and economic recovery of the most affected sectors and companies.”

Source: laestrella.com.pa