Business group Chamber highlights institutional crisis

 Panama’s  Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (Cciap) has once again weighed in on the urgent need for the next government to address the current institutional crisis.

In its Sunday, April 28 newsletter, the chamber said   that the damage to state institutions is evident in the persistent confrontation between the powers of the State for political reasons,

But also when there is a harmonization between them, it occurs to serve purposes other than those promulgated by the Constitution

” This situation becomes an uncertainty with a direct impact on the productivity of the different economic sectors of the country,” the statement said.

It adds that the state entities must work oriented to the public good, governed by transparency when rendering accounts for their actions and insist on the need for the incoming administration to give continuity to those plans that have given positive results, and thus achieve its sustainability beyond  2019.

On the administration of justice, the Chamber calls for a commitment to modify the Political Constitution of the Republic through two Assemblies.

For the agricultural sector, they recommend, in the short term,  a single laboratory for quality control and compliance with standards to support export efforts; strengthen the Department of Commercial Defense of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI), so that it works efficiently and interposes defense mechanisms if required.

In the medium term, a national strategy that includes the commitment of the producer to adopt appropriate technologies and achieve efficiency in a sustained manner.

Tourism
Tourism is another factor to be highlighted considering the urgency of giving support to the publicity of Panama at an international level, and ensuring the resources for the Mixed Fund for Tourism Promotion.

On the other hand, taking advantage of the millions of passengers that the Tocumen International Airport receives every year, this air terminal must be used to the maximum to promote the country as a destination.