The President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, during his Report to the Nation at the installation of the first legislature of the fourth period of ordinary sessions of the National Assembly, highlighted the progress of the Government in the Beehive Plan, the Community Work Tours, the support to the agricultural sector, in terms of health, education, economy and the modernization of state processes through digitalization.
The Chief Executive stated that the Government Plan Uniting Forces continues to be the roadmap and the style of government for the next two years. He explained that of the 125 Action Plan commitments proposed by his administration, 100 have been prioritized, of which they have been fulfilled and will continue to be executed. Before the plenary session of the Assembly, Cortizo Cohen reiterated the fight against poverty and inequality with the aim of closing gaps and achieving the conquest of the sixth frontier.
During his Management Report, the president highlighted the sanction of the National Strategy Law of the Beehive Plan, which lays the foundations for the fight against poverty and inequality. The Colmena Plan is the mechanism with which we reach the most vulnerable districts, mainly those with multidimensional poverty, to deliver executed works and concrete responses to prioritized needs with the participation of the community. Community Work Tours (GTC) The so-called GTC complement the Beehive Plan; they are the permanent working method of our government; shoulder to shoulder with the people.
“They are the working method that I intend to maintain until the last day of my term.” Cortizo Cohen highlighted that in 36 months of government, 108 community tours have been carried out so far, in which four to five activities are carried out in various townships on the same day to deliver water solutions, highways, roads, bridges, schools, computers, excellence scholarships, electrification works, housing, property titles and non-reimbursable seed capital for micro-entrepreneurs.
Likewise, loans to small producers at 0% interest, highly genetic stallions, agricultural tools and supplies for family farming, fish ponds and assistance to people with disabilities, among other benefits. He also indicated that on March 16 he delivered to the High-Level Commission of the Bicentennial Pact Closing Gaps, the 40 actions that this administration will carry out during his mandate. “The agreements reached by the citizens in the Bicentennial Pact must be fulfilled in this and the next governments. This is the path that will allow us to close the gaps of poverty and inequality and to be a more equitable and fair country”.
Accountability Cortizo Cohen highlighted that the State ministries and institutions that had responsibilities in managing the pandemic accounted for the use of the resources assigned to them during the period from March 13, 2020 to December 31, 2021 .
“The established processes and controls were complied with and all the contracts for that period are published on the Panama Compra portal,” he said, taking the opportunity to point out that more than 700,000 minor purchases were made in the two previous administrations; that is, purchases of up to 10 thousand balboas that reached an amount greater than 750 million balboas and of these purchases there were no records of the supplier selection process, ”he said.
Transparency In this sense, he stated that his administration created and implemented the Online Quotation Platform, a tool through which entities publish their needs so that any person or company submits their offers. This platform allows Government contracting to be carried out digitally with transparency, and also, thanks to the public contracting portal, greater opportunities for participation are generated for all suppliers.
He indicated that Panama had the honor of receiving, on June 2, the United Nations Public Service Award in the category of Institutional Resilience and Innovative Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic. To date, Panama has received a total of 10,343,850 doses and more than 8,390,000 doses have been applied. Regarding hospital facilities, he reiterated that his efforts have been focused on recovering and completing health infrastructure works that were left unfinished by the two previous governments. “With great difficulty we had to clean up multiple legal, financial and contractual problems.
Among them is the City of Health, whose works were restarted 7 months ago and have registered an advance of 79.6%”, he stressed. Cortizo Cohen announced that this coming July 12, the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Institute will be inaugurated in the City of Health, in which nearly 300 children born annually with congenital heart malformations can be operated on and the waiting list for nearly 300 people for Adult Cardiovascular Surgery. He announced that on August 30, 2022, the facilities of the Specialized Nephrology Center, the Blood Bank, the Transplant and Neurosurgery Center of the City of Health will be received.
He assured that “Panama will have its City of Health, but at a cost of 661 million 100 thousand balboas, a cost that could have been less if for 10 years it had acted responsibly thinking about the health of Panamanians.” He also reported that after 12 years of having been given the order to proceed and 6 years in abandonment of the New Manuel Amador Guerrero Hospital in Colón, he delivered last Friday, May 27, the order to restart the works for an investment of 270 million 705 thousand balboas. And the construction of the New Dionisio Arrocha Hospital of the Social Security Fund in Puerto Armuelles was completed.
Regarding the shortage of medicines, he recalled that while this problem is being resolved, on June 28, the Pilot Plan of the new MedicSol Solidarity Medicines program began to guarantee the insured who does not find their medicines in the pharmacies of the Social Security Fund, can request them and pick them up at no cost at affiliated stores. He indicated that this program will be carried out in phases, replicating the successful scheme of the Panama Solidarity Program with the Digital Voucher. The first phase of the MedicSol Program began in the districts of San Miguelito and Panama. Subsidies In the human and supportive aspect, the National Government has maintained contributions of a social nature to the most vulnerable.
“Social stability is based both on stimuli for the private sector so that companies can generate wealth and jobs and on support for the less favored sectors, especially in critical periods.” The Chief Executive detailed some of the economic relief provided in 2021, including: Digital Voucher, Panama Solidarity Plan, subsidies for rice, corn and grade C milk; Ifarhu Scholarships and Social Assistance Programs, public transportation subsidies for students, Program 120 to 65; Opportunities Network, Housing Solidarity Fund, the gas tank, and the electricity tariff, among others.
“The total of these main economic subsidies destined to alleviate the cost of living in 2021 was 2 thousand 263 million balboas,” he said. In addition to these subsidies, the president pointed out that other measures were adopted to alleviate the economic burden of Panamanians affected by the Pandemic and more recently by the rise in the cost of oil. “That is why we temporarily freeze the price of fuel for public transport at 3 balboas with 95 cents per gallon so that the cost of the ticket for users does not increase.”
Additionally, he explained that the Fuel Solidarity Voucher for the Agricultural and Commercial Sectors was adopted with the purpose of contributing to minimize the increase in the prices of food and services in general. He explained that to freeze the price of fuel for these activities for 3 months, 100 million balboas from the fuel tax were allocated. “In particular, I want to highlight that in 2021 the fuel tax generated 220 million balboas and of that total 122 million balboas were allocated to subsidize the little gas tank and by 2022 it is estimated that 145 million balboas will be needed to maintain this subsidy. This means that only 80 million balboas will remain,” he explained.
He added that for the support of public, commercial and agricultural transport, 100 million balboas have been allocated for only 3 months. Education In educational matters, he stressed that the challenge for this and future administrations, which includes all Panamanians, is the training of our students and improving the unfortunate results in the ERCE, TERCE and PISA international tests. Cortizo Cohen stated that in order to eradicate ranch classrooms for modular classrooms, a pilot plan was started in the Ngäbe-Buglé and Kuna Yala comarcas.
He reiterated that it is imperative to adequately and promptly attend to the maintenance and improvement needs of educational centers using the resources available from the Fund for Equity and Quality of Education (FECE) and the Agricultural Fund that are available to the directors of the Educational Centers and whose bank balance amounts to 76.6 million balboas. Citizen Security Cortizo Cohen stated that so far in 2022, 800 operations have been carried out against organized crime and drug trafficking; and 65 tons of drugs have been seized. “If we continue at this pace, we are on our way to surpassing the historical record for drug seizures of 128.7 tons seized in 2021. Panama is recognized as the first country in the region to have successful interdiction operations at sea in the fight against drug trafficking. ”.
Regarding improvements to security infrastructures, he mentioned the inauguration of the building of the Special Unit for Sensitive Investigations, which was equipped with the most modern and advanced equipment to continue the fight against crime. He warned that in the national fight against organized crime “there is no truce, no possible negotiation; we continue to strengthen technology, intelligence and operations throughout the country.” Economy In economic matters, he emphasized that Panama continues to be the country with the best maritime, air, logistics and digital connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Cortizo Cohen took the opportunity to highlight that the World Bank confirmed that Panama’s gross domestic product registered an economic growth of 15.3% in 2021, one of the highest in the region.
He also stated that according to the Comptroller General of the Republic, growth in the first quarter of this year was 13.6%, while the projection of economic growth, according to the World Bank for 2022, will be 6.3%, one of the highest region of. Likewise, he indicated that the unemployment rate has decreased from two to one digit, standing at 9.9%. Regarding the accumulated commercial movement of the Colon Free Zone, he explained that it continues to grow month by month with results in the first four
