President Meets With Business Leaders
Today, Tuesday, 10 January 2012, president Ricardo Martinelli and some of his ministers met with leaders business sector at the headquarters of the National Business Council (CONEP) to discuss issues such as audits, among others that were still pending, but the agenda was open. Economy minister Frank De Lima said he was sure the issue of tax audits would be discussed in the meeting. "The economy is on the right track, we have the lowest tax rate in Latin America, and obviously more growth benefits the private sector, which means they are seeing increased profits," he said. Three days ago, both sectors met at the Presidency of the Republic, to discuss topics of economic interest. (Panama America)
Editor's Comment: Many of the business leaders in Panama are very worried after the headlines of last week, regarding the $3 million dollar tax bill the government handed to the founder and president of the La Prensa newspaper, Roberto Eisenmann. I suspect there was a lot of hand holding going on. Most of the businessmen in Panama are smart enough to not mix their politics with business unless absolutely necessary. Many of them donate to all of the important political candidates, just to make sure they are covering their bets. Eisenmann was allegedly playing games with his taxes, blasting the president in his newspaper La Prensa, and he mixed his business with politics in wholeheartedly supporting the Panameñista political agenda. Is there any surprise he got stomped? I suspect that's about the "executive summary" of this meeting today.
