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TIPS ON DOING BUSINESS IN

PANAMA

GENERAL INFORMATION

Panamanians prefer to maintain an image of harmony in public. Do not criticize with other member of your negotiating team in public.

Panama City if referred to as “Panama” by locals.

Panama has a wide ethnic diversity. Some ethnicities include; Hispanics, Antillean blacks, tribal Indians, Chinese, Arabs, Lebanese,

North Americans etc.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Panama has a population of approximately 3.2 million people (2006 estimate), its population is one of the smallest in Central America.

Panama is 70% mestizo (a mix of Indian and European), 14% West Indian, 10% European and 6% Amerindian.

Over ¼ of the people engage in agriculture, growing crops such as bananas, shrimp, coffee, sugar, rice, corn, sugarcane and livestock

LANGUAGE

Spanish is the official language of Panama. Many Panamanians are bilingual in English as well. There are several Amerindian

languages.

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Source: Morrison. T &Conaway .W, Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Latin America

CULTURAL ORIENTATION

Cognitive Styles: How Panamanians Organize and Process Information

Panamanians are open to information of many kinds. They are also much politicized, which shades how they view this information.

Panamanians typically process information subjectively and associatively.

BUSINESS PRACTICES

Punctuality, Appointments and local Time

Business hours are generally 8:00 am to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday.

Punctuality is expected in business circles, particularly with foreigners

Appointments are to be made far in advance of your arrival in Panama. Confirm your arrival via phone or email at least one week

ahead of time.

Local time is 5 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time

Negotiating

Spend time establishing a trusting relationship with your counterpart before jumping into business discussions. Additionally, spend

time emphasizing the personal compatibility of the two companies.

Have business cards and other material printed in Spanish as well as English

Latin Americans tend to be status conscious. At least one member of the negotiating team should be from a high level of management.

Avoid publicly criticizing a person

To avoid embarrassment, Panamanians rarely disagree in public

Senior officials and the elderly are given preferential treatment. They should be greeted first, and may be served before you in line.

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Business Entertaining Good topics of conversation include sports, travel and local cultural events.

Foreign business women should always include spouses in invitations to business dinners

PROTOCOL

Greetings

Men will shake hands with other men in greeting. Women often pat each other on the right forearm or shoulder instead of shaking

hands.

Women who are close friends may hug or kiss each other on the cheek.

At parties it is customary to greet and shake hands with each person in the room

Titles/ Forms of Address

Titles are very important in Panama and should be used whenever possible

When addressing someone directly, use the title alone and do not include a last name. The title Licenciado is used for anyone with a

bachelor’s degree.

Dress

In theory men should wear conservative suit for work.

In practice, jackets and ties are often dispensed with in Panama’s hot, humid weather. Panamanian business men in higher positions

wear suits; others wear camisillas (a lightweight, open-necked shirt that is not tucked inside the trousers).