Changing the model of progress by betting on more complex and higher value-added activities, without restricting the entry of qualified foreign labor, is part of what the Panamanian business sector proposes to boost long-term economic growth.

In a statement, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) reflects on the need to make significant adjustments in the country’s productive matrix to achieve long-term sustainable economic development.

From the CCIAP statement:

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama closely observes the recent analysis of the economist Ricardo Hausmann on our country’s economy, agreeing with him on the pressing need to attract talent from other nations to strengthen our opportunities for advancement as a society.

The country’s economic growth has been the highest in the region in recent decades, but it shows an increasingly marked slowdown, which makes it advisable, in order to avoid the effects of adverse cyclical conditions, to change its model of progress for more complex or sophisticated activities, says Hausmann, director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University.

According to this analysis, the key to Panama becoming a regional power is to replicate and extend experiences already developed here, such as those of Panama Pacifico and the City of Knowledge, based on the fact that the country leads the Americas in terms of foreign investment in relation to its GDP.

Read full statement (In Spanish).