Describes how widely e-Commerce is used, the primary sectors that sell through e-commerce, and how much product/service in each sector is sold through e-commerce versus brick-and-mortar retail. Includes what a company needs to know to take advantage of e-commerce in the local market and , reputable, prominent B2B websites.
Last Published: 2/23/2017
Law No. 112, signed on July 30, 2001, was the first law in the region to deal with e-commerce.  A revised law (Law No. 55), passed in July 2008, enhanced the legal framework for developing e-commerce activities, and strengthened the institutional setting for an effective application and management of the different aspects of e-commerce defined by the law.

Basic features of the e-commerce law are the following:

  • It gives legal force to any transaction or contract completed electronically.
  • It makes electronic signature a legal instrument except for real estate transactions and succession purposes.
  • It creates the National Directorate of Electronic Commerce (Direccion Nacional de Comercio Electronico) as part of the National Commerce Directorate of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to oversee the application of the law and act as a regulator.
  • It defines certification organizations, which will issue signature certificates and define operating procedures.  A certificate will allow any person or organization to claim legitimacy.
  • It establishes that certification entities will register on a voluntary basis.

The Panamanian Chamber of Commerce has promoted the increased use of e-commerce with financial assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).  A number of Panamanian firms, especially supermarkets, fast food delivery, and consumer electronic stores, offer e-commerce facilities and more firms are working on providing these facilities.  However, electronic commerce is still weak in Panama.
 
For more information on e-commerce, please contact us at Enrique.Tellez@trade.gov.

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.