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Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Panama’s US Envoy spreads economic optimism in the States. REIT is coming to Panama, but some investors are hesitant. A message in a bottle is found, 22 years later. And, we show you the top new luxury hotels in Panama’s City and beaches. Here’s the latest.

Panama’s US envoy offers upbeat economic outlook for 2015.

This month, Panama sent a diplomatic envoy to the US to talk politics, strategic partnerships, trade, and the country’s business future. Panama’s ambassador attended a number of meetings and panels, to represent the country’s new administration, and re-affirm to those in Washington that the positive growth in Panama will continue for the long-term.

In his first public comments since presenting his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama on Sept. 18, the ambassador praised his own president, Juan Carlos Varela, who took office in July following an election campaign based on four pillars: social inclusion, revitalization of democracy and public institutions, economic development and national security.

“President Varela is committed to doing away with inequality, and wants to create opportunities for all,” said González-Revilla, speaking Dec. 3 at Washington’s Center for Strategic & International Studies. The panel was moderated by Carl Meacham, director of the Americas program at CSIS, and attended by about 35 government officials, business executives, NGO representatives, journalists and diplomats, including Román Macaya, Costa Rica’s ambassador to the United States.

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Panama REIT Industry Aims for Takeoff.

If you’ve never heard of REIT before, that’s ok. To put it simply, a REIT is a security that sells like a stock on the major exchanges and invests in real estate directly, either through properties or mortgages. REITs receive special tax considerations and typically offer investors high yields, as well as a highly liquid method of investing in real estate. These securities are about to launch in Panama, to mixed reviews, but will certainly stir up the market a bit. Here’s why.

“We have a very dynamic real-estate market, but unfortunately it is in the hands of a few investors,” said Marielena Garcia Maritano, a senior vice president of investment banking at Panama’s MMG Bank Corp. and president of the Panamanian Chamber of Managers of Mutual Funds and Pension Funds who helped guide the REIT legislation.

But the small country of roughly 3.9 million people will face challenges as it gets its REIT industry off the ground. Panama might struggle to attract anything larger than regional investors to its REITs because of its small size, as has been the case with real-estate investment funds in neighboring Costa Rica and in other emerging markets for REITs. While Panama has a strong economy, its real-estate market has seen a building boom in recent years that could depress values.

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Message in a bottle travels 22 years, from Sweden to Panama

In one of the most fun, feel good stories of the year, a real-life “message in a bottle” was found in Panama this month. The best part? The message’s sender was found, and contacted, bringing two strangers together from thousands of miles apart. The message was sent by a then six-year-old from the coast of Sweden, in an attempt to get it to travel to other parts of Europe. No one ever expected it would make it to the Caribbean, or even be found if it did.

“We wanted to make it look old school so we burned the edges of the paper and we wrote a message saying we were in desperate need of help, saying we were stranded on a desert island.” This may or may not have been the route the bottle travelled across the Atlantic. Erik remembers being excited about sending the message in the bottle.

He told Newsbeat: “Our dad told us we should wait until the wind was blowing off land because it might go as far as England, so we were a bit excited about that.

“It would have travelled north of Denmark, through the English Channel to cross the Atlantic. Our hopes weren’t that high to even get to England.”

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Panama’s Luxury Hotel Boom: Bigger and better in the City and Beaches

Panama is adding more hotels than any other country in the region, and for good reason. And while Panama may have hotels for any budget, there seems to be a big trend in large luxury hotels and resorts. The newer hotels have all of the amenities you’d expect from a world-class location, and no expense is spared. In our latest blog post, we take a look at some of the best, and tell you why they got that recognition.

In true Panama style, this boom has been accompanied by an “all-or-nothing” attitude that’s pushing bigger and better hotels. Luxury and large is the trend, and there are some great new hotels/resorts that embody this to a tee. Here’s a quick review of some of Panama’s best:

Hard Rock Hotel Megapolis-��Though it only opened a few years ago, this over 60-story hotelhas already become an iconic part of Panama City’s skyline, and cultural fabric. The hotel has over 500 guest rooms, multiple restaurants, bars, a popular nightclub, and a rooftop disco that overlooks the bay. Each room is decorated in true Hard Rock style, with music memorabilia adorning nearly every wall in the building. It’s also attached to a shopping mall, and casino, making it a one-stop vacation destination for tourists and music lovers alike.

Read more about Panama luxury hotels