Kaiser Bazán looking for better times
by Eric Jackson
On January 30 the American Chamber of Commerce installed president
Walter Laffitte and the officers for 2001, at a Caesar Park dinner
that attracted more people than any of the similar events in recent
years have. In part that's because there's an expectation that
the new administration in Washington will resume progress toward
a Free Trade Area of the Americas, and in part because folks from
Manzanillo International Terminal and other Colon member businesses
turned out in force to hear Second Vice-President Dominador Kaiser
Bazán, a Cristobal High School and West Point graduate who's a
favorite in the American community. Kaiser Bazán took the opportunity
to deliver a major speech about the state of the Panamanian economy
and what the Moscoso adminsitration is trying to do about it.
"The year 2000 was difficult for all of us, including the national
government," Kaiser Bazán noted, pointing out that other countries in the
region also saw hard times. He cited the drying up of credit,
lower business earnings, the white spot virus's devastating impact
on shrimp exports, low banana prices and high oil prices as some
of the specific reasons for Panama's woes. He also cited consumer
fears, which have led to reduced demand for goods and services,
which in turn has depressed the whole economy. This, in turn,
has led banks and other financial institutions to be stingier
with credit, reinforcing the downward economic trend.
"All of these aspects have forced us to re-evaluate our thinking
and policies about economic matters," the vice-president said. "Moreover, our adhesion to the World Trade Organization that the
process of globalization brought changes to our economy, which
are still continuing, with corresponding short-term economic costs." Nevertheless, Kaiser Bazán opined, Panama has seen worse crises
than this, and should be able to meet the challenge with "will, imagination, and the faith that citizens and foreigners,
especially executives like those gathered here, have had."
The vice-president called for a joint effort by business, labor,
financiers and the government, and identified the key challenges
of increasing the education and skills of the work force and making
the society less chaotic.
"I think we began this year on the right path, especially when
we observe that the leaders of the principal business organizations
in this country look forward to this year's economic performance
with optimism. This is very important because we're raising the
factor of expectations to a more positive level," Kaiser Bazán said.
Although he admitted that last year's problems aren't behind us,
Kaiser Bazán said he expects things to be picking up by the second
half of this year. Part of this he attributes to the government's
plans to start spending on some big projects like another bridge
over the canal, the reconstruction of Santo Tomas Hospital, public
housing initiatives, a new government center at Fort Clayton and
an urban light rail commuter train system for Panama City and
San Miguelito.
On the private side of the economy, the vice-president cited the
multimodal container system that will come into service when the
railroad links the Colon Free Zone and the nation's principal
ports, prospects to get real investors to develop Howard and other
vacant reverted properties, and port investments by Taiwan-based
Evergreen and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa.
He also expects a number of international organizations to boost
Panama's economy this year, with the offices of the Free Trade
Area of the Americas opening in the Caesar Park and UNICEF and
the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization moving into the City
of Knowledge.
Kaiser Bazán also noted President Moscoso's appointment of eight
committees to coordinate public and private efforts to get the
economy moving again by increasing tourism and exports, improving
the legal system, speeding up infrastructure construction projects,
attracting investment and making the public sector more efficient.
"The government is making investments and we're counting on the
private sector to pick up the gauntlet," he concluded.
