The main aspect I learned about conducting business in general is to always keep the special essence of your company. Meaning to stay true to your values and culture. We talked to various businesses, and some of them told us that business in Panama is really family-oriented and that employees treat each other like family inside the company. As well as the companies, we had a chance to visit their installations, where the workspaces were mainly in the opening. For example, in the real estate company, they even had a space where they could relax with bean bags and a TV. As well, one of the main factors taken into consideration in all the businesses were the geographical factors and how their business improved due to the importance of the Panama Canal. The people from Panama that we engaged with were really nice and very curious about what we were interested in. All of the business leaders that we socialized with spoke English with proficiency.
My time abroad had developed my mindset toward global business and Panamanian culture. I did not expect the business to be as industrialized as it was. They have very big projects for the upcoming years, and most of them are done with the help of international investors. One thing I did get to write about is that the food there was amazing. I knew that it was based on seafood and plantains, and it was, but every meal I had was delicious. Furthermore, the culture in general was beautiful. We went to the old city where the Spanish first colonized, and you could see the history of how Panama came to be the country it is today. I knew as well that the parts that were rural were really poor, which they were. They told us that they don?t have electricity or running water.
