Investors' trip

The last Investors' trip took place from 24^th February to 3^rd March 2018

There won't be any further trips.

Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, February, 2018
Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, February, 2016
Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, March, 2014
Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, March, 2012
Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, May, 2011
Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, February, 2010
Picture gallery of the investors’ trip, February, 2009

We are happy to give individual travellers further information. However, due to our very lean organisation, we are not able to offer an escort to the plantations.

PANAMA –BASIC INFORMATION
Panama (Panamá in Spanish) is a small country in Central America, bordering on Costa Rica in the West and on Columbia in the East. The Panama Canal crosses the country and connects the Atlantic (Caribbean) in the North with the Pacific in the South. The Panama Canal is being expanded since 2007. On both sides – Atlantic and Pacific - new, three-tier locks are being built in addition to the existing ones. The amplified Canal is supposed to be inaugurated in 2015.
Panama lies on the narrowest part of the Central American isthmus and is 700 km long. The Central American Cordillera follows the coasts and in the West. carries the extinct volcano Barú (3,475 m), the highest mountain in the country.
The most important income sources of the Panamanian economy are the Panama Canal, on the one hand, which offers about 8,000 people jobs in administration, management, and maintenance and, on the other hand, the registration of ships.
The Panama Canal is 82 km long and 12 m deep and is transited annually by almost 15,000 ships with 200 million tonnes of cargo, fetching 1.73 billion dollars for the country in 2011.
The international community (and the USA in particular) have a vital stake in preserving the political and economical stability of the country. On a security-political level, Panama limits itself to a guardian role. It has a police force; the army was abolished by a reform of the Constitution. The defence of the territory is guaranteed by international treaties.
Panama is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation of American States, the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association, Non-Aligned Nations Conference, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Currency Fund, and the World Trade Organisation.

Panama – Salient points
Form of Government
Presidential republic. The President of the Republic is elected for five years and is also the Head of State. The country is organised in nine provinces and three large and two smaller Indian reserves (comarcas).
Official language
Spanish. Approximately every seventh Panamanian also speaks English, more in Panama City, less in rural areas.
Independence
Panama was a Spanish colony until 1821. It became independent of Columbia in 1903.
Population
3,571,185 (2011). The most densely populated areas are on the Pacific Coast and along the Canal Zone. More than half the population live in towns.
Surface
77,082 km², thereof 210 km² water. The coastline is 2,800 km.
Capital
Panama City, established 1519, approx. 1,300,000 inhabitants. The city bears comparison to international standards. Since the ‘Seventies, it has become one of the most important financial centres in Latin America.
Tropical Climate
In the coastal areas the average annual temperature is around 25°C. In the hills and mountains it is cooler. The rainy season lasts from April to November. The Caribbean side of the country is rainier than the Pacific side.
Currency
Balboa (B/. PAB), divided into 100 centavos. The Balboa is fixed at par with the United States dollar. Panama mints its own coinage but uses US dollars as its paper currency.
International dialing code +507
Travel advice: https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/laender-reise-information/panama/reisehinweise-panama.html
Weather forecast: http://ch.wetter.com/panama/NAPA.html

Panama – today
There is no denying the long-term influence of the USA on the Panamanian economy. The free trade zone Colón is a hub for global trade. The infrastructure is relatively robust. Timber exports benefit from the fact that the transport infrastructure is highly developed.
The distances from the plantations to the export ports are relatively short. As Panama is an import country, the costs for export containers for heavy goods (logs, wood) are low.
The banking centre Panama hosts over 120 resident foreign banks and is well developed and internationally aligned. Panama has no national restrictions on financial import and export. Inflation is one of the lowest in South and Central America.
The Government has introduced investment incentives such as tax exemption for profits resulting from forestry and tourist operations. It endeavours to protect Panama’s natural rainforests. Plantations that are planted before 2018 are tax-exempt for income from wood sales.
Panama has survived the global financial crisis of the past years without any major losses.

Two proud shareholders inspecting their trees
(Source: NuF)