When conducting business or investing in real estate in a foreign country, it is always important to be particularly aware of the country’s customs, holidays, and social practices. Being negligent of these factors can be extremely damaging; even unintentional mistakes can sour deals that otherwise would have worked. A recent example is that of Anheuser-Busch, brewers of Budweiser Beer, who are currently being acquired by the Belgian conglomerate InBev. Some have speculated that the company could have avoided the recent buy-out, had they cultivated a better relationship with Modesto, the Mexican company that brews Corona, and which Anheuser-Busch owns a stake in. The two companies had an unfortunate fallout following, of all things, a fishing trip that occurred over a decade ago. Apparently the head of Anheuser-Busch, insulted his Mexican counterparts when he became anxious after hooking a Marlin, a fish that can take up to three hours to reel in, and passed off his rod so that he could take a phone call. Ultimately, both the fish, and any hope of a healthy partnership between the two companies, were lost.
Understanding different social customs is extremely important, and one mistake that is both easy to make, and even easier to avert, is being aware of the national holidays in the country you are investing in. Being aware of public holidays can help avoid any unnecessarily negative situations.
To avoid any potential tricky situations, here is a list of public holidays in Panama, for 2008 (click the image to enlarge it):
Source:
http://www.qppstudio.net/publicholidays2008/panama.htm
