33 Cable & Wreless* Table No. 9 Internet servce rate - E-1 DESCRIPTION MONTHLY RATE INSTALLATION * Includes 100 lnes wthout addtonal cost. The rate for each addtonal lne s us$6.00 US $360.00 US $690.00 Cable Onda US $ 50.00 US $350.00 Telecarrer US $700.00 US $1,295.00 GBNet US $450.00 US $990.00 C. SECURITY Panama s consdered among the best places n the world to lve for both foregners and natonals, due to ts postve attrbutes n securty matters. The prestgous Pnkerton Intellgence Agency, a company that works wth eghty percent of the one thousand Fortune Lst enterprses, has awarded Panama, through the Pnkerton Global Intellgence Servces, one of the hghest rankng postons n tourst securty matters. Furthermore,worldwde dstrbuton magaznes such as Internatonal Lvng have ranked the country wth outstandng securty levels. It should be remembered that Panama does not have an army and ts duly traned securty unts are entrely cvlan, polce and professonal. To such end, there are seven unts: the Insttutonal Protecton Servce, Natonal Martme Servce, Natonal Polce, Judcal Techncal Polce, Customs and Immgraton, all duly coordnated under the Publc Securty and Natonal Defense Councl. The Panamanan securty polcy s based on the prncple of INTE- GRAL SECURITY, beng ts prmary goal to protect the lfe, honor and assets of all nhabtants, ether Panamanan or foregn ctzens, guaranteeng the governance of the State. The Republc of Panama has been free from natural dsasters snce ts foundaton as an ndependent naton 100 years ago. As a preventve measure,panama s prepared to face such a stuaton f t were to happen, through the leadershp of the Natonal Cvl Protecton Servce (SINAPROC), under the Mnstry of Government and Justce.
34 C.1 STATISTICS ON THE NUMBER OF SERIOUS CRIMES FOR EACH 100- THOUSAND INHABITANTS The Republc of Panama has a populaton of 2,980,947 nhabtants. In the year 2003, an average of 535 general crmes were regstered for each 100,000 nhabtants and the crme rate per 100,000 toursts was 28.5 cases for a populaton of 638,618 vstors. When the fgures correspondng to 2003 are measured n the followng Table, and are compared to those of the precedng year, nearly a 9 % decrease n the total number of crmes s observed. It should be noted that only sx kdnappngs took place n the Republc of Panama n 2003, all satsfactorly solved by securty enttes. Nether attempts of extremst acts nor terrorst acts were reported. Lkewse, n Table 10 the number of serous crmes reported to the Natonal Polce, wth a comparson between the years 2002 and 2003 accordng to the type of crme, s presented. Table No. 10 Serous crmes reported to the Natonal Polce n the Republc of Panama per year consderng the type of crme REPORTED CASES 2002 2003 DIF. % Arm Robbery 2,192 1,887-13.91% Car Robbery 302 188-37.75% Theft 8,096 7,622-5.85% Car Theft 523 430-17.78% Wounded wth weapon 1,115 1,057-5.20% Wounded wth a cuttng weapon 1,337 1,274-4.71% Wounded w/forcble object 404 374-7.43% Homcde wth weapon 205 139-32.20% Homcde wth a cuttng weapon 81 59-27.16% Homcde w/blunt weapon 23 18-21.74% Weapon possesson 703 630-10.38% Rape 197 162-17.77% Property damage 972 825-15.12% Drugs 1,332 1,293-2.93% TOTAL CRIMES 17,482 15,958-8.72% Source: Natonal Polce C.2. SECURITY AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES THAT PANAMA OFFERS IN REGARDS TO NATURAL DISASTERS FOR THE SECRETARIAT'S VENUE, PERSONNEL AND DELEGATES Securty for the Secretarat Venue, Personnel and Delegates The Republc of Panama ams to mantan the same securty level dsplayed durng the two years that we were honoured to be the temporary venue of the FTAA. Durng ths perod there was no securty ncdent or problem regstered aganst the Admnstratve Secretarat nstallatons, meetngs' locaton, dgntares, negotators and personnel.
35 Ths peaceful envronment was acheved due to the hgh securty level wthn Panama Cty,to the tolerant and respectful character of ts socety and to the effectve coordnaton between the FTAA Lason Offce, under the Mnstry of Trade and Industry and the country's publc securty enttes. Consderng the Cty of Panama's proposal to become the Permanent Venue of the FTAA Admnstratve Secretarat and through an ntatve of the Publc Securty and Natonal Defence Councl, the Government of Panama prepared an FTAA Securty Plan, whch s entrely presented n Annex 2, n order to meet the requrements of the Headquarters of the Admnstratve Secretarat Venue, meetngs' locaton, dgntares, negotators and personnel, and also consderng the Heads f State or Government, Mnsters or Vce Mnsters who may vst our country when the Venue has been establshed n Panama. The goal of the FTAA Securty Plan s "To plan and support the ntegral securty capabltes and the guarantees that the Republc of Panama offers n order to become the FTAA Venue." It ncludes permanent actons appled drectly to publc securty of the nstallatons, physcal securty, securty wth ntegral technology, securty of nformaton and specal systems. All ths wll be acheved by: Preparng the necessary plans and ntegratng and coordnatng government enttes. Performng analyss, studes and capabltes n the preventon, reacton and attenton to possble rsks and threats that could occur. Carryng out planned drlls and rehearsals n preventon and n attenton to emergency stuatons. Updatng the assessment of securty stuatons. Strengthenng plans and orders. There wll be three mplementaton phases: PHASE 1 (INSTALLATION) Prevously coordnatng and provdng structures and facltes related to the securty ssues through ntegrated specal systems. PHASE 2 (OPERATION) Provdng permanent securty servces to FTAA nstallatons and to whatever s necessary for ts operaton. Emphass wll be gven to the securty of the nstallatons and ts permeter. PHASE 3 (EXECUTIVE MEETINGS) Plannng, coordnatng and developng all the actons requred to carry out executve meetngs.it wll be focused on operatonal preparatons. The mplementaton of ths plan wll nvolve all securty enttes, coordnated by the Publc Securty and Natonal Defense Councl, under the Presdency of the Republc of Panama, wth the support of the Integral Securty Commttee and the Natonal Crss Coordnaton Center. In paragraph H, Panama presents all the securty servces of the FTAA nstallatons as part of the country's offer.
36 Preventve Measures n Matters of Natural Dsasters for the Secretarat's Venue, ts Personnel and Delegates Even though Panama tradtonally has been free of natural dsasters, strct securty constructon norms, smlar to the Unted States, are enforced. The Natonal Cvl Protecton Servce (SINAPROC), under the Mnstry of Government and Justce, s ntegrated by 207 offcals and nearly 2,500 volunteers duly traned to respond to emergency stuatons throughout the natonal terrtory. SINAPROC's Natonal Emergency Plan descrbes ts essental components and provdes a framework to develop an effectve natonal response capacty n case of any event, coordnated through an Emergency Operaton Center. The Plan dentfes country regons, populaton groups, and potental vulnerablty and rsk problems. Moreover, ts actvaton leads to the ntegraton of dfferent government nsttutons, the prvate sector, nternatonal agences and cvl socety. The Emergency Operaton Center (EOC),naugurated n 2000 at the former Howard Ar Force Base,s the coordnatng entty of all ctzen protecton and securty unts facng any emergency or natural dsaster. The EOC s consdered one of the most modern of Latn Amerca and the Carbbean. Wth totally dgtalzed equpment and located wthn one of the best furnshed avaton nfrastructure n the contnent, the center s strategcally postoned to accomplsh ts goals. Although emergences and natural dsasters are nfrequent n Panama, the country s prepared n case of any dsaster that may arse n the natonal terrtory. Furthermore, consderng that the locaton offered by the Republc of Panama to become the Secretarat's Venue meets the hghest nternatonal norms n dsaster preventon matters, Annex 3 presented contanng the Dsaster Preventon Manual for these nstallatons. The Panama Canal - Safe nfrastructure servng world commerce
37 D. HUMAN RESOURCES APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF AVAILABLE ENGLISH, SPANISH, PORTUGUESE AND FRENCH TRANSLATORS AND INTERPRETERS (INCLUDED SPECIALISTS IN LEGAL INTERPRETING AND TRANSLATING) WHO ARE PROFESSIONALLY QUALIFIED AND HAVE A THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF FTAA TERMINOLOGY Due to ts geographc locaton and nternatonal servces and trade actvtes, Panama has been the convergence pont for people of dfferent natonaltes from the fve contnents, who have bestowed ther cultural and lngustc nfluences. As a result of the French presence n the Captal Cty durng the 19th Century, the Amercan presence snce the last century, the contrbuton of the Carbbean slands to the constructon of the nteroceanc canal, along wth the collaboraton of the Federal Republc of Brazl through unversty educaton scholarshps granted to Panamanans, a sgnfcant percentage of the populaton speaks the languages employed n FTAA dynamcs. Panama nvests 6% of ts GDP n educaton, one of the hghest percentages n the contnent. The study of dfferent foregn languages has been encouraged n Panama for many years and blngual teachng s compulsory at elementary and hgh school levels. Due to these reasons, the country began three years ago an aggressve nternatonal campagn to attract nternatonal call centers and, at present, hosts worldwde gants such as Dell, operatng from the former Howard base. The Cty has 30 language centers operated by both natonal and nternatonal unversty and educatonal nsttutons. Lkewse, a large number of Embasses mantan specalzed cultural centers n Panama. Among them, the French Allance stands out due to the dversty of actvtes offered, all representatve of ts culture. Durng the last decade Panama Cty has hosted mportant nternatonal and nter-amercan meetngs that requre sgnfcant local techncal support from qualfed nterpreters and translators. Panama was the frst locaton outsde of New York Cty where a sesson of the UN Securty Councl has been held. Lkewse, Panama hosted the 26th General Assembly of the OAS; the Specalzed Conferences on Prvate Internatonal Law, n whch all the nter-amercan jursprudence n ths feld was created; and the Unversal Congress of the Panama Canal. Translators and Interpreters En el Mnstero de Educacón y el Mnstero de Relacones Exterores se encuentran regstrados, en los domas del ALCA, más de 700 traductores e ntérpretes calfcados de los domas nglés, español, francés y portugués. Para recbr su certfcacón de ambas entdades públcas, los traductores e ntérpretes deben cumplr con una sere de requstos admnstratvos y académcos establecdos en el Códgo Admnstratvo de la Repúblca de Panamá, entre ellas, la oblgacón de presentar documentos que los acredten en la especaldad, debdamente autentcados, y pasar las pruebas correspondentes ante dos examnadores ofcales. El Estado, al otorgarles la donedad, les confere una lcenca de traductores e ntérpretes públcos autorzados. Contar con esa base, que supera los setecentos traductores e ntérpretes calfcados, es un mportante recurso para cualquera necesdad futura de la Secretaría Admnstratva, las msones, delegados y/o dgnataros del ALCA.En el Cuadro 11 se ncluye la cfra exacta de traductores calfcados regstrados en la Repúblca de Panamá.