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PANAMA CITY, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Panama has the potential to serve as a regional hub, thanks to its central location, connectivity and infrastructure, with seven underground fiber optic cables running through the Central American country, Minister of Trade and Industry Augusto Arosemena said on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Swiss food company Nestle took advantage of those features, plus the Panama Canal of course, to open a regional purchasing center in Panama, only the third such center the company operates worldwide, after one in Switzerland and another in Malaysia, according to the minister.
Speaking at a forum entitled "Panama Connecting the World," Arosemena told representatives of multinational firms that such a data hub could help cut costs and improve service.
Foreign direct investment in Panama amounted to 6 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, nearly 17 percent higher than in 2015, and 45 percent of all FDI in the Central American region, said the minister.
The United States and Colombia top the list of foreign investors, with 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
Some 130 multinationals have been drawn by Panamanian laws that offer incentives to set up headquarters there, including 27 U.S. firms.
