Having a minimum of five full-time permanent employees is one of the requirements that companies must meet in order to obtain a Regional Offices of Multinational Corporations license, if a bill from the Varela administration succeeds.

The bill presented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Mici) to the National Assembly contemplates, among other things, the new conditions that must be met by companies seeking to obtain a license as Regional Offices of Multinational Corporations (SEM by their initials in Spanish). In addition, it details a proposed law reform, under which companies must generate annual operating expenses in the country of at least $500,000.

From a statement issued by the National Assembly:

A bill, whose content base is to make more competitive the special regime for the establishment and operation of Regional Offices of Multinational Corporations (SEM), was presented the Minister of Commerce and Industries (MICI), Augusto Arosemena, in the plenary session.

The head of the MICI estimated that this regulation could increase foreign investment and consolidate Panama’s logistics service platform and, at the same time would enable updates to be made which are required by international standards with the introduction of new requirements for obtaining an SEM license.

Read full article (in Spanish).