By Chris Moss - Telegraph

With freedom from Spain came a series of other quasi-colonial influences. Panamanians celebrate November 28 1821 as the date of their independence from Spain, and November 3 1903 as the day of their separation from Colombia, although the US had a military presence in the isthmus from 1850 on. In 1904, the US Army Corps of Engineers began work on the French-designed Panama Canal. In 1977, management of the waterway was handed over to Panama, but the US invaded the country in 1989. Panama has only enjoyed complete sovereignty since December 31 1999.

Top five attractions

The Panama Canal, an astounding feat of engineering and surprisingly beautiful to look at thanks to the surrounding rainforest; the town of Boquete and nearby cloud forest-covered peaks for hiking, rafting, visiting coffee plantations and hot springs; Bocas del Toro archipelago, where pristine tropical forests lie on deserted beaches, for the moment; and the beaches of San Blas' 378 islands (only 49 inhabited), clichéd tropical perfection (used in the Survivor TV show) but also home to indigenous Kuna communities.

Best city

Panama City is Central America's most cosmopolitan city, with a particularly energetic nightlife; high-rise, modern architecture abuts colonial buildings, and beaches and rainforests are a short taxi-ride away.

Tour: Panama coast-to-coast

This luxury 11-night trip includes four nights at a boutique hotel in Panama City and a tour of the city, three nights at Cala Mia in the Chiriquí Province on the Pacific Coast and four nights at the Coral Lodge in San Blas on the Caribbean.

Price:from £2,650 per person, including luxury boutique accommodation with breakfast throughout and full board at Coral Lodge, return flights with Continental Airlines, local flights and air-conditioned ground transportation.

Contact:020 7337 9000; exsus.com.

Souvenir to buy

Multi-layered, richly coloured textiles called molas.

Quirky Panama

In the shadow of the Barú volcano, there is a farm called Finca Dracula and the only thing you see there are black orchids.

Read

Getting to Know the General by Graham Greene. Greene was a close friend of Omar Torrijos, former president. In this book of reminiscences he debunks the stereotypes about military rulers and explains Panama's unusual relationship with its Central and South American neighbours.

The Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) was present in the International Tourism Fair Vakantiebeurs in the Netherlands and in Madrid’s big tourism fair, Fitur 2010.

In The Netherlands, more than 1,000 people were attracted to Panama’s stand. KLM’s now five-day-a-week direct flight between Amsterdam and Panama, the participation of companies from Belgium and Netherlands in the Panama Canal expansion project and the nation’s cultural diversity were the key points that attracted so much attention to Panama’s stand.

The Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), led a delegation of companies Panamanian tourism that represent the unique tourism product that Panama offers: beaches, eco-tourism, ethnicity and culture, all within just a few hours of Panama’s modern capital city.

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By Eric Sabo -  BusinessWeek

Panama will cut its public debt as a percentage of gross domestic product by 10 percentage points as the Panama Canal’s expansion boosts revenue and increased foreign investment generates royalties from mining, Finance Minister Alberto Vallarino said.

The Central American nation plans to slash its obligations to 35 percent of GDP from 45 percent by 2014 as collections from the upgraded canal rise to $5 billion a year from about $2 billion, Vallarino said. The government also plans to sell land and is “looking very carefully” at granting mining concessions to enhance revenue, he said.

“We recognize the responsibility of managing public finances,” Vallarino, 59, said today at a conference in Panama City. “Our country is on a very clear path to sustained growth.”

Panama’s credit rating was raised yesterday to investment grade by Fitch Ratings, which cited low debt levels and a resilient economy that posted one of the fastest growth rates in Latin America last year.

Fitch raised Panama’s foreign- and local-currency debt to BBB-, the lowest investment-grade level, up from BB+. The outlook on both ratings is positive, Fitch said in a statement yesterday. The country’s foreign-currency rating is in line with those of Brazil and Peru.

While Panama’s debt levels are lower than Brazil, the Central American country’s debt is mostly foreign-owned and vulnerable to shocks, said Roberto Sifon, an analyst with Standard & Poor’s.

“If you have a global crisis, foreigners pull out,” Sifon said in an interview today from Panama City.

Fitch forecasts the Central American country’s economy will grow an average of 5 percent a year, compared with a 2.4 percent expansion in 2009. The country’s debt was equivalent to an estimated 45 percent of gross domestic product last year, down from 70 percent in 2004, according to Fitch.

By Panama Economy Insight

Panama's government announced this month that Panama's GDP grew 2.4% in 2009. This growth came despite one of the worst global economic turmoil since the Great Depression of the thirties. Panama's economy was very strong before it happened bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the U.S., which sparked the global economic crisis, and managed to maintain some momentum in 2009.

Most of the foreign demand for Panama's economy slumped, given its relation to global markets, but domestic demand kept the momentum and helped to prevent the contraction of GDP.

The sectors related to foreign markets that suffered included the exports of agricultural and seafood, the Colon Free Zone, railways, ports, the Panama Canal, sales of bunker to vessels transiting the Canal, the liner shipping by air, the activities of travel agencies, banking and real estate activities. The sectors related to domestic market, which continued to grow were the supply of electricity, retail trade, restaurants, domestic transportation of passengers by road, telecommunications, private education, private health services and social services.

The value added of agriculture and fisheries contracted 8.6% and 2.9% in 2009 compared to the previous year, according to the GDP report issued by the Comptroller General of the Republic on its website on March 2, which is the result of the sharp drop in export demand in the United States and the European Economic Community.

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