As reported by my friends at the Latin Business Journal,  Panama again tops the index, as it has done in all previous years.  However, this year, Nicaragua became the second-most globalized country, while Costa Rica became the fourth-most globalized nation in Latin America. Meanwhile, Honduras ranked between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

 That means that three Central American countries are among the four most globalized countries in Latin America.

 “It is interesting to see the good performance observed by Central American countries,” says Ricardo Ernst, deputy dean of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and editor-in-chief of Globalization, Competitiveness and Governability, a journal published by Georgetown University and Universia. “We have seen a sustained improvement over the last couple of years and it might be a confirmation of the success that CAFTA [Central American Free Trade Agreement] has provided. The improvement is in all significant dimensions such as exports, imports, FDI and even tourism.  Let’s remember that the metrics are calculated relative to GDP so they do factor in the size of the country.”

 CENTRAL AMERICAN STAR

Panama remains the Latin American country with the highest exports as a percent of its GDP.

 The index of 17 countries looks at six factors that measure a country’s links with the outside world: 

– Exports of goods and services as a percent of GDP
– Imports of goods and services as a percent of GDP
– Foreign direct investment as a percent of GDP
– Tourism receipts as a percent of GDP
– Remittances as a percent of GDP
– Internet penetration

Let’s keep it up Panama!!