Panama is experiencing spectaculareconomic growth, averaging 7.5 percent during 2004-06; aconstruction boom; and emerging new opportunities andgrowing export markets.Despite this impressive growthperformance, at the national level poverty remained almostunchanged during 1997-2006 at around 37 percent (masking adecline in rural poverty and an increase in urban andindigenous areas). Key development challenges for Panamainclude: (a) sustaining its accelerated recent growthperformance, and (b) translating growth into povertyreduction.Natural resources and the environment must bekey elements of any successful strategy to meet thesechallenges. The main objective of the Panama CountryEnvironmental Analysis (CEA) is to provide an analyticalfoundation to enhance the country's capacity toestablish and address environmental policy priorities linkedto poverty reduction and sustained economic growth.Thisreport covers three main areas.First, the report analyzesthe capabilities of Panama's institutions to performessential tasks to manage the environment and naturalresources; namely identifying problems and designing andimplementing policies to solve them.The analysis thereforeplaces great emphasis on the clarity of policies; mechanismsfor coordination; use of and access to information,participation, and consultation; and, mechanisms to promotecompliance with legislation.The premise of theinstitutional approach is that only strong institutions areable to offer efficient, equitable, and durable solutions tothe increasingly complex problems faced by modern societies.Second, the report identifies environmental and naturalresource management issues of key sectors, such as miningand tourism, to provide information on strategic synergiesand tradeoffs involving the environment, economic growth,and poverty.Finally, the report offers new quantitativeestimates in the fields of environmental health and climatechange that will help the Government of Panama establishpolicy priorities.
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