Investments regulation in Panama has always been oriented to its promotion, from small and medium companies, up to huge investments in projects and companies. Following this orientation the country put a warranty stamp to this investment promotion policy when Law 54 of 1998 was passed, through which confers legal stability to the investments.
Through this law the local or foreign investor is offered a warranty of static validity of the legal rules in effect at the moment of investing. By this manner, it guarantees for a period of 10 years, the stability of applicable legislation in tax, customs and work matter, to those people or companies that make or commit to making and maintaining investments superior to US$2,000,000.00 in tourism, industrial activities, agricultural, of export, reforestation, mining, export processing zones, commercial and oil free zones, telecommunications, construction, port development and railroad matters, and any other activity that the Cabinet Council approves.
In addition to these benefits, it is also guaranteed to who invest in any of these activities, a general legal stability. By virtue of this, it is guaranteed that in the event of having new legal dispositions that vary the acquired rights of the investors, these legal dispositions will not be able to affect the constitutive regime, and the investor will only stay subjected to the regime in effect up to date of their registration at the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. So, in order that if any of the entered changes, for example imply, the reduction or increase of a tax, the registered investor will be able to pay the smallest between the new and the previous tax. So, the tax will never be able to be greater (but indeed smaller), to the tax in effect at the moment of its investment.
By means of its system and legal stability, Panama also offers specific additional incentives that generate investment opportunities in several sectors. Here are some of them.