Trade Policy Review
Report of
Panama
Revision
Pursuant to the Agreement Establishing the
Trade Policy Review Mechanism (Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing
the World Trade Organization), the policy statement by Panama is attached.
Contents
1
Introduction.. 3
2 RECENT
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND OUTLOOK. 4
2.1 Overview. 4
2.2 Economic
performance by sector 5
2.2.1 Primary
sector 5
2.2.2
Secondary sector 7
2.2.3 Services
sector 9
2.3 Balance of
payments. 11
2.4 Inflation. 15
2.5 Fiscal
situation. 16
2.5.1 Central
government revenue. 16
2.5.2 Central
government expenditure. 17
2.5.3 Central
government current savings. 18
2.6 Challenges
posed by COVID-19. 19
2.6.1 The 2020
financial strategy. 19
2.6.2 Health
strategy. 20
3 RECENT TRADE
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS. 22
3.1
Multilateral trading system.. 22
3.2 Dispute
settlement mechanism.. 23
3.3 Trade
agreements. 23
4 TRADE POLICY
INSTRUMENTS. 25
4.1 Tariffs. 25
4.2 Customs
procedures. 25
4.3 Trade
facilitation. 25
4.4
Competition policy. 26
4.5 Technical
standards. 26
4.6 Investment
policies. 27
4.6.1 Regime
for the establishment and operation of multinational business headquarters. 27
4.6.2 Regime
for the establishment and operation of multinational companies providing
manufacturing-related services. 28
4.7
Intellectual property. 28
5
MODERNIZATION OF THE STATE. 33
5.1
Regulations. 33
5.2 The AIG's
specific objectives in terms of technology infrastructure include: 33
5.3 The 2021
Digital Agenda. 34
5.3.1
Implementation of the integration platform for state payments. 36
5.3.2 Other
Digital Agenda projects. 36
5.3.3
Innovative, interoperable and unified governance. 37
6 Conclusions
and outlook. 38