The Tourism Promotion Fund (PROMTUR) Panama, launched the Panama Association Center “Panama Association Hub” (PAH), which is a project that seeks to attract international associations and organizations so that they can establish their offices and operations in the country.

According to Fernando Fondevila, CEO of PROMTUR, this associative center is a model present in only 4 places in the world: Brussels, Washington DC, Singapore and Dubai, driven by the destination marketing organizations (DMO) or convention bureaus of these places.

The project consists of supporting the establishment of professional associations and non-profit, non-political and non-religious commercial organizations in a destination, so the public-private entities involved in the center, provide support to these organizations to establish offices in the country; help manage licenses, registrations and visas; and offer commercial advice for the promotion of their businesses.

“In this context, and through the support of public-private actors, PROMTUR identified the Associative Center model as an opportunity to develop an innovative concept that considered the needs of international associations, in alignment with the diversity and specificities of Latin America,” Fondevila said.

He added that in this way, Panama hopes to become an incubator and accelerator of international associations that seek to increase their reach and presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, according to Carmen Gisela Vergara, Director of PROPANAMÁ, the Panama Associative Center has the potential to contribute significantly to the economic, social and cultural development of the country and the region.

In addition, he added that the conditions offered by Panama in terms of air access and digital connectivity are undoubtedly an important differentiator for associations and organizations that are studying where they can grow their activities and services more easily and efficiently.