Sunday, February 12, 2012

Advantages Of Buying From The Zona Libre de Colon.

By Ariel Dess


The Zona Libre de Colon's success is due to a combination of factors such as its geographical location in the Republic of Panama (Central America), the Panama Canal, the use of the US dollar as legal tender, a large banking center, a very developed insurance industry, state-of-the-art container ports and not very demanding business requirements.

What are the advantages for companies to buy from the Zona Libre de Colon? It is ideally located in Central America which is an entry point to the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is considered to be the crossroads of the world thanks to the Panama Canal. The Republic of Panama also enjoys economic stability thanks to the use of the US dollar as its legal tender which fluctuates less than other currencies in the region. A large banking center, a strong insurance industry and high tech ports also contribute to the success of this zone.

Important facts about the Zona libre de Colon:

*Second largest Tax Free zone in the world

*Approximately 2500 wholesale companies

*455 hectares

*300 000 buyers every years

*Over 25 000 employees

Imports into the Zona Libre de Colon come mainly from the Far East. The largest individual supplier of the Colon Free Zone in 2004 was Hong Kong (China) followed by Taiwan, United States, Japan, Korea, France, Mexico, Italy, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Malaysia and Germany. These countries supplied nearly 87 percent of all Colon Free Zone imports in 2004.

Which countries do business with the Zona Libre de Colon? Most of the products are transshipped from Panama to other ports of Latin America. Imports come from the Far East with the largest suppliers coming from Hong Kong followed by Taiwan, United States, Japan, Korea, France, Mexico, Italy, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, UK, Malaysia and Germany. The most important buyer is Colombia. Other buyers include Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica, USA, Chile, Honduras, Brazil and more.

The Zona Libre Colon benefits greatly from being so close to the Panama Canal.The Panama Canal attracts over 12,000 vessels every year. This will surely increase as the expansion to the Panama Canal will be finished by 2014 allowing larger post Panama vessels to cross the Panama Canal. There are numerous warehouse and logistic projects planned for the next five years ensuring a continual growth for the Zona Libre de Colon.




About the Author:



No comments: