Countries › Panama › Guide › 3. Investing

3. Investing: Panama

Investing in Panama: the equal treatment and free repatriation guarantees of Ley 54 de 1998 and its optional ten year legal and tax stability for registered projects of at least B/.2,000,000, the constitutional limits on retail trade, border land, public utilities and gaming, the 5 percent multinational headquarters (SEM) and manufacturing services (EMMA) regimes, the Panama Pacífico special economic area, public private partnerships under Ley 93 de 2019 and selling to the State under the public procurement law, with a side by side comparison of the regimes, each tied to the official text. Panama has no tax treaty with Argentina; for the Argentine side of trade, FX or tax treaty questions see The Argentine Thread guide.

Investor view. No screening of foreign capital, free repatriation by law, optional ten year tax stability and 5 percent regimes for group hubs and manufacturing services make Panama a rules based platform that rewards investors who build real teams and operations in the country.

• Foreign investment in Panama: equal treatment, free repatriation and expropriation guarantees under Ley 54 de 1998Panama has no foreign investment approval, screening or registration requirement: Ley 54 de 1998 gives foreign investors the same rights and duties as nationals, limited only by the Constitution and t
• Ten year legal and tax stability in Panama: registering a B/.2 million investment with MICI under Ley 54 de 1998Investors in tourism, industry, export agriculture, agroforestry, mining, export processing and free zones, telecommunications, construction, ports and railways, power, irrigation and Cabinet approved
• Restricted activities for foreign investors in Panama: retail trade, land near the borders, islands, public utilities and gamingPanama screens no foreign investment, but its Constitution reserves retail trade to Panamanians by birth and to companies formed by Panamanians or qualifying foreigners, bars foreign owned buyers from
• Multinational headquarters (SEM) licence in Panama: who qualifies, the 5 percent tax regime, substance tests and staff visas under Ley 41 de 2007A group with consolidated assets of at least US$200 million, or presence in more than 40 countries under one brand and business line, can license a Panamanian or registered foreign company as a Sede d
• EMMA licence in Panama: manufacturing, assembly, repair and logistics services for a multinational group at 5 percent under Ley 159 de 2020Ley 159 de 2020 created the EMMA regime for multinationals that manufacture, assemble, maintain, remanufacture, condition, test or develop products, or run related logistics, for companies of their ow
• Panama Pacífico special economic area: registration, tax exemptions, the 5 percent office services rate and labor rules under Ley 41 de 2004Panama Pacífico is a special economic area run by an autonomous agency under Ley 41 de 2004, open to national and foreign companies that register with it. Operations inside the area are free of import
• Public private partnerships in Panama under Ley 93 de 2019: B/.15 million floor, public initiative only, 30 year terms and arbitration in PanamaLey 93 de 2019 lets public entities contract private companies to design, build, finance, operate and maintain infrastructure or public services, with the private partner taking project risk and being
• Selling to the Panamanian State: procedures, thresholds, bonds and bid challenges under the public procurement law (Ley 22 de 2006)Public purchases in Panama run through the PanamaCompra electronic system under Ley 22 de 2006 as consolidated in 2020, and foreign companies can bid on the same terms as Panamanian ones if they are l
• Choosing an investment regime in Panama: general regime, ten year stability, SEM, EMMA, Panama Pacífico or a free zoneMost foreign investors in Panama operate under the general regime: a territorial 25 percent income tax and 10 percent dividend tax on Panamanian source profits, with free repatriation. Group service h

Related: Panama country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X