40% of real estate products over 140,000 dollars are bought by foreigners, that is why this time we are not limiting ourselves to Panama, we are expanding (the expo) to 10 countries that consume and search for products through the portals in Panama, engineer Demetrio Arosemena, president of the Organizing Committee of Expo Hábitat 2020, told EFE.

The union leader stressed that in order to promote these foreign investments, the 33rd edition of the Habitat Expo has the support of the Foreign Ministry through the embassies which are going to replicate the fair and are going to help them move a little more.

The real estate market has reflected the slowdown of the Panamanian economy in recent years, and the crisis of the pandemic exacerbated the situation of the construction sector, which has come to represent close to 15% of gross domestic product (GDP-2016 ).

Now the numbers are quite hard, the statistics that we are handling during the pandemic speak that construction permits have decreased by 34%, cement production has decreased by 53% compared to last year; concrete production has decreased by a 63%, Arosemena specified.

But the construction crisis predates the health emergency that forced Panama's economy to shut down since mid-March to stop the spread of COVID-19, which has infected more than 115,000 people and killed more than 2,400, and that it will drop GDP this year by at least 9% and shoot unemployment to 25%, according to official forecasts.

We currently have more than 24,000 units in inventory, they are units under construction or already built. Half of that inventory dates back four or five years. And that is precisely why, as an industry, we want to break the inertia and offer this commercial showcase digital for commercial transactions to take place, said Arosemena.

VIRTUAL SHOWCASE AND VIDEO CONFERENCES

The motto of the Habitat Expo is "A new vision for Panama", and the objective is to unite supply with demand in a 10-day scenario, with spaces where users from Panama and the world get to know the country's real estate products, said Arosemena.

The expo will be attended by a hundred exhibitors dedicated to the commercialization of mortgage properties, construction, supply of materials, finishes and decoration, and present about 150 housing projects (houses and apartments) located in the metropolitan area and the main districts of the country.

The pre-opening will be on October 14 with the forum 'Safety in works, financing in works', in charge of the Inter-American International Federation of the Construction Industry (FIIC) in alliance with the development bank of Latin America CAF.

In this forum they will touch on the issues of what the post-COVID construction will be like, how the management of biosecurity in works changes, how the different financing schemes for public and private works change, explained Arosemena.

During the expo, more than a hundred videoconferences will be held on topics related to the industry such as automation, digitization, public procurement, LEED projects, decoration, solar energy and drinking water.

We expect to have more than 20,000 visits from local and international users. We have started an international campaign to promote the country brand, inviting foreigners to invest and buy homes in Panama, said Arosemena.