Trade and investment development

The project will be implemented by the Commercial Service Center (the Center) of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (CCIA). The policy advocacy component will support a private sector directed program of economic policy and regulatory reform by working with a group of private sector organizations (Fundacion ANDE) through the CCIA to carry out activities in the areas of problem identification and technical analysis, as well as public education in support of policy reform. The project will fund a master study and six individual policy studies to identify laws, regulations and other constraints that adversely affect investment. Members of the Center"s governing committee will then formulate a plan to eliminate some of these constraints. Policy and regulatory modifications to be considered by the committee may include reform of the export processing zone law, the industrial incentives law, and the labor codes; continued dismantling of government control of the agricultural sector; privatization of services such as port management and electricity generation; and removal of policy constraints to tourism development. Suggested reforms will be promoted via seminars, workshops, media releases, public education efforts in cooperation with the executive and legislative branches of government, observational trips to countries where trade reform has taken place, and TA for drafting legislation or conducting research supporting legal and regulatory changes. The export development component will promote the export of three products in the light industry subsector and three in the nontraditional agribusiness subsector through the provision of product development plans as well as firm-specific and general TA. This TA will be available to existing and prospective Panamanian exporters and foreign investors; at least some of the TA costs will be borne by the firms themselves. A total of 50 firm-specific interventions are targeted in such areas as manufacturing and production, new venture start-up, planting trials, packaging and handling technology, U.S. import regulations, industrial and agricultural standards, and product treatment and inspection requirements. The Center will also provide technical services, including a technical library and access to data bases on, inter alia, U.S. import requirements, commodity prices, and markets. In addition, the project will provide a resident agronomist and will establish a one-stop Business Licensing Center, possibly to be housed in CCIA.