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In the last year there was a lot of press about expatriates moving to Panama to live their lives, start businesses, and contribute the their adopted country. With a worldwide recession and now the flu a lot of the “personal” news has been knocked off the front page if not out of the news. However, the expatriates have not gone away. In fact this may be the best of all times to start or restart your life in Panama.

Economic Opportunity of Lack of It

As the world was sinking into recession last year with multiple quarters of contracted growth Panama’s gross domestic product grew by 9.2 percent. This year, poor Panama, the country only expects a three to four percent growth rate. Considering that no one else is seeing economic growth, and perhaps still contracting, three or four percent is pretty good.

But, what does this convert to as “personal news.” If you personalize the news in the USA you see college and university graduates trying to enter a shrinking job market. You see whole towns where most of the folks are out of work like the one in Ohio when DHL pulled out of the USA. You see people with a lifetime of skills and precious little hope to use those skills.

Yes, the new administration is pouring money into a recovery and it will probably come but, for the individual who worked for GM, at a skilled job will it be in time?

Economic Opportunity in Panama

Then there is Panama. North Americans can bring their English skills to Panama have a leg up on a job. Panama has a growing economy that matched China’s growth in the last decade and will likely do so again when foreign trade and investment picks up again. There is money in Panama, there is opportunity in Panama, and it is cheaper to live in Panama.

For anyone with a severance package from their old job there might be worse places to wait out a recession than a tropical paradise where things cost less than “back home.” Come to Panama and look around. You might find that getting a residency visa with your pension, or better by starting your own business here, is the way to restart your life in a land of opportunity.

In Panama you find expatriates running real estate agencies, employing five or more Panamanian workers and enjoying a residency visa. There are large numbers of high skill jobs available if you pay for a work permit and run an English language ad in La Prensa.

The cost of living is still lower in Panama than in the USA. If you are in the market for real estate, either for a home in Panama or for commercial investment this year is the year of opportunity. Prices, especially on high-end property, are in pause mode and likely to stay there until late fall of 2009. Realtors such as ABPanama are encouraging their clients to look seriously at some of the discounted properties on Avenida Balboa, which is where the high-end property is on the Gulf of Panama.