by Ariel Dess


The Zona Libre de Colon is one of the most important tax free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean. It allows companies located in this zone to import and export products without paying any taxes. This allows products to stay competitively priced when it arrives at its final destination.

Key figures about the Zona libre de Colon:

* Second largest Tax Free Zone in the world after Hong Kong

* More than 2500 wholesalers

*450 hectares

*2500 wholesale companies

*300 000 buyers every year

*Over 20 000 employees

*14 billion in import and re-exports every year

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 de Colon attracts more buyers thanks to its close proximity to the Panama Canal. Over 12,000 vessels cross the Panama Canal every year. With the expansion of the Canal planned to be finished by 2014, this traffic will surely increase. Several warehouse and logistic projects are planned for the next 5 years allowing the Zona Libre de Colon to grow.




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