In the year 2007, 87% of the mortgages granted were in the preferential range – homes with a value up to $62,500, according to CAPAC (Panamanian Chamber of Construction). The official statistics also reveal a significant increase in the acquisition of homes with prices over $100,000. According to CAPAC, the last statistic is mainly composed of foreigners.

Additionally, there were a total of 24,712 mortgages granted in 2007:

• 4,382 mortgages for homes up to $15,000
• 5,615 mortgages for homes from $15,000 to $25,000
• 1,595 mortgages for homes from $25,000 to $62,500
• 1,338 mortgages for homes from $62,500 to $100,000
• 1,782 mortgages for homes over $100,000

The first phase of the project to clean up the city and the Bay of Panama, a 360 million dollars investment, has been completed 18%, according to the project organizer, Juan Antonio Ducruet.

At the end of the current term of office, all the sewers will be built, as well as the treatment plant and the interceptor tunnel, said Ducruet.

Panama's Caribbean beaches were recently featured in the Hottest beaches of Central America article by msnbc.com.

"Long heralded as the Next Costa Rica, Panama is actually a more culturally diverse and, in some parts, cosmopolitan country with the driving forces of the Canal and bustling Panama City. It has two entries in the list, one on the English-speaking island of Bastimentos in the north and the other on the indigenous Kuna islands of San Blas in the south. Panama is brimming with surprises from secluded islets untouched by time to wooden Caribbean-style homes on stilts along delicious stretches of sand."

After enduring 18 months of Georgia’s heat and humidity, Nicholas Kuchova jokes that when moving to Panama four months ago, he was fully ready to face the tropical climate, business suit and all.

But as he left Savannah’s U.S. Commercial Service office to take the senior U.S. commercial officer post in the Central American nation, Georgia’s oldest city had prepared him for more than just sweltering heat.

Panama is home to the historic Panama Canal, a maritime shortcut that nearly a century since its completion has become etched into trade routes from Asia to the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast. Savannah boasts a fast-growing port that is set to handle record container volumes this year.

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A Freeland man flew to Panama for surgery rather than choosing medical treatment closer to home.

Rocky Knickerbocker, a 61-year-old owner of a heating business and a commissioner of the Freeland Water and Sewer District, was desperate for relief from excruciating pain from a hernia.

But worried that surgery would cost too much money locally, he searched the Web for options, finally choosing to have his surgery in Panama City, Panama.

As U.S. healthcare costs soar, more people are opting for medical and dental care in unfamiliar surroundings and thousands of miles from their families and doctors.

Knickerbocker chose Panama for his medical procedure because of the cost savings, and because Panama is a popular tourist destination. Its a place he and wife Susan have always wanted to visit.

Medical tourism has morphed in recent years from an obscure phenomenon into a global industry, fueled by the Internet, ease of travel, shorter wait times for appointments and greater international sharing of medical best practices.

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