In the first half of 2026, Panama's free zones have attracted more than $58.5 million in new investments<\/strong> and 24 multinational companies have been approved in the first four months alone. Panama is not a fad: it is a strategic decision that thousands of businessmen from Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and the rest of Latin America are making today.<\/p>\n But there's something most investment guides don't tell you: When you establish your company in a free zone in Panama, you also need a place to live.<\/strong> And that place can be, in itself, one of the best investments you make.<\/p>\n In this guide I explain how the three main free zones in Panama work\u2014Panapark, Panama Pacifico and the Col\u00f3n Free Zone\u2014and how to complement that business decision with the purchase of a luxury property that generates profitability in dollars.<\/p>\n Located in the old Howard Airport, just 20 minutes from downtown Panama City, Panama Pac\u00edfico<\/strong> It is the most sophisticated special economic zone in the country. It is designed especially for technology, financial services, logistics and high-value manufacturing companies.<\/p>\n Tax benefits for companies in Panama Pacifico:<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have a services or technology company and are looking for a base in Latin America with access to the Panama Canal and direct flights to the entire region, Panama Pacifico is your option.<\/p>\n Where to live if your company is in Panama Pacifico<\/strong> The closest and best connected luxury neighborhoods are Costa del Este<\/strong> y San Francisco<\/strong>, with direct access via V\u00eda C\u00f3rdoba. Luxury apartments from $350,000 USD with projected profitability of 6% per year.<\/p>\n Panapark Free Zone<\/strong> It is the first free zone in Panama to obtain the BASC (Business Alliance for Secure Commerce) certification, the international security standard for foreign trade. This makes it the preferred option for companies that need certified logistics operations and secure supply chains.<\/p>\n What types of companies operate in Panapark<\/strong><\/p>\n The Panapark regime offers tax exemption on imports<\/strong>, 0% of income in export operations and a predictable regulatory environment that gives legal certainty to the foreign investor.<\/p>\n In 2026, Panapark projects a growth of 15%<\/strong> in activity, with new companies from Colombia, Mexico and Europe establishing themselves in its facilities.<\/p>\n The Colon Free Zone (CFZ)<\/strong> It is the largest free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest in the world after Hong Kong. With more than 1,800 established companies and a trade volume that exceeds $10 billion annually, the ZLC is a giant of re-export trade.<\/p>\n If your business is in import\/export, wholesale distribution or international trade of finished products, the Col\u00f3n Free Zone is your natural platform in Latin America.<\/p>\n Where do the businessmen of the Free Zone live?<\/strong> The majority choose Panama City as their residence\u2014especially Punta Pacifica<\/strong>, Casco Viejo<\/strong> y Costa del Este<\/strong>\u2014 and travel on work days to Col\u00f3n (1 hour by highway). The combination of residence in Panama City and company in the ZLC is the most common strategy among Colombian and Venezuelan businessmen who operate in the area.<\/p>\n Here's the math many investors are applying in 2026:<\/p>\n En t\u00e9rminos fiscales, Panam\u00e1 opera bajo un sistema de territorialidad<\/strong>: solo se gravan los ingresos generados dentro del pa\u00eds. Los ingresos de fuente extranjera est\u00e1n completamente exentos de impuestos. Esto, combinado con los beneficios de las zonas francas, hace que la carga fiscal total sea m\u00ednima.<\/p>\n El mercado inmobiliario de lujo en Panam\u00e1 sigue siendo uno de los m\u00e1s competitivos de Latinoam\u00e9rica en precio por metro cuadrado. Mientras en Bogot\u00e1, Ciudad de M\u00e9xico o Miami el precio del m\u00b2 de lujo puede superar los $5,000-$8,000 USD, en Panam\u00e1 City encuentras propiedades exclusivas desde $2,500 USD por m\u00b2<\/strong> en zonas prime.<\/p>\n Actualmente tenemos disponible Bosco di Santa Mar\u00eda<\/strong>, el proyecto residencial de lujo m\u00e1s exclusivo de Panam\u00e1: apartamentos desde $498,000 USD, con amenidades de primer nivel, seguridad 24\/7 y una ubicaci\u00f3n estrat\u00e9gica en la ciudad. Ideal tanto para vivir como para arrendar a ejecutivos extranjeros que llegan a trabajar en las zonas francas.<\/p>\n Al comprar una propiedad por encima de ciertos montos, tienes acceso a visas de residencia para inversores. Panam\u00e1 ofrece varias opciones atractivas:<\/p>\n Muchos de mis clientes de Colombia y M\u00e9xico consolidan en una sola movida: empresa en zona franca + propiedad + residencia permanente. Es la estrategia completa de internacionalizaci\u00f3n que m\u00e1s sentido hace en 2026.<\/p>\n Las zonas francas de Panam\u00e1 son la puerta de entrada al mercado internacional. Pero Panam\u00e1 en su totalidad \u2014su estabilidad pol\u00edtica, su dolarizaci\u00f3n, su posici\u00f3n geogr\u00e1fica y su mercado inmobiliario\u2014 es una propuesta de valor completa para el empresario latinoamericano que quiere internacionalizar su patrimonio.<\/p>\n Si est\u00e1s considerando establecer tu empresa en Panapark, Panam\u00e1 Pac\u00edfico o la Zona Libre de Col\u00f3n, te puedo asesorar tambi\u00e9n en la parte inmobiliaria: d\u00f3nde vivir, qu\u00e9 comprar, cu\u00e1nto invertir y c\u00f3mo estructurar la operaci\u00f3n de manera eficiente.<\/p>\n \u00bfTienes preguntas sobre c\u00f3mo combinar tu zona franca con una propiedad de lujo en Panam\u00e1?<\/strong> Cont\u00e1ctame directamente. Soy Francisco Godoy, corredor certificado de bienes ra\u00edces de lujo en Panam\u00e1, y he asesorado a decenas de empresarios de Colombia, M\u00e9xico y Venezuela en esta misma transici\u00f3n.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Discover how foreign entrepreneurs and investors are combining establishing businesses in Panama's free zones with purchasing luxury properties in the city. Complete guide 2026 with Panapark, Panama Pacifico and Col\u00f3n Free Zone.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":45571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[784,785,792],"class_list":["post-45567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-bienes-raices-panama","tag-inversion-inmobiliaria","tag-zonas-francas-panama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45578,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45567\/revisions\/45578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franciscogodoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The 3 Main Free Zones in Panama in 2026<\/h2>\n
1. Panama Pacifico: The Free Zone for Services and Technology Companies<\/h3>\n
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2. Panapark Free Zone: The Free Zone for Manufacturing, Logistics and High Technology<\/h3>\n
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3. Col\u00f3n Free Zone: The Largest Free Zone in the Americas<\/h3>\n
The Smart Strategy: Company in Free Trade Zone Luxury Property in Panama City<\/h2>\n
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\u00bfCu\u00e1nto Cuesta una Propiedad de Lujo en Panam\u00e1?<\/h2>\n
Visa de Residencia para Inversores en Panam\u00e1<\/h2>\n
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Conclusi\u00f3n: Panam\u00e1 es M\u00e1s que una Zona Franca<\/h2>\n