In coping with the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on business operations, Panamanian companies based in Qatar are banking on Panama’s capacity to innovate and deal with different challenges, ambassador Musa Asvat has said.
“We are working against the clock to minimise this impact, but more importantly, the positive side of this experience is that the world is more connected and knowledge is more accessible than ever before in dealing with events, such as this pandemic.
“Also, I would like to highlight the importance of resilience during this process and to be ready to adapt easily in order to handle the new challenges to overcome successfully, Asvat told Gulf Times.
Asvat stressed that resilience is a tool that most Panamanian companies know how to utilise. “This is evident, especially when it comes to costs, as most of them have learned from previous experiences on how to offer better services or products at the lower price, but with the highest standards,” he explained.
The ambassador noted that integration, dynamic networking, and joint efforts help facilitate knowledge transfer. These best practices could be shared with Qatar, he emphasised.
“This allows Panama to have an unusual concentration of innovative firms and international organisations focused on development, as well as academic and research institutions, resulting in a lively and successfully collaborative community that perfectly may assist companies in Qatar as a contribution in this process.
“Panama also has more than 90 higher education institutions, including large universities and smaller colleges. Seven of these appeared in the QS Latin America University Rankings 2018, including the Universidad Tecnologica de Panama (UTP), which ranked 101st in Latin America, and the Universidad de Panama (UP), which is 139th in Latin America,” Asvat said.
In Panama, Asvat said, the government and the private sector “work closely and collaborate constantly,” making communication a crucial factor when it comes to decision making.
“From the Embassy of Panama in Qatar, as well as from all the embassies of Panama around the world, we keep the channels of communications open to assist with transparent information and respond to any inquiry with our headquarters as fast as possible. Panama is an advanced multimodal hub with vast experience connecting the world through oceans, air, and multi-services.
“Panama is also a neutral-diversified economy and has been one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America over the past decade, with real GDP expanding above 5%, even in 2008 when the previous world economic crisis occurred,” Asvat said.
He added, “Panama is also a hub for major international summits that are held throughout the year at our large and modern convention centres. The stability of the government and a prosperous outlook makes Panama one of the best places to live and do business. Not surprisingly, interest from foreign investments continues to grow every year and our population reflects this diversity, as well.”
