Friday - our last full day

After an exhausting yet amazing four days slam packed of meetings and activities we finished our week exploring Panama with a visit to Ralph Lauren.  We met with Maria Teresa Alvarez - VP Panama and  Hermino Soto - Senior Director of Finance and Operations.

The morning was full of interesting conversation and lots of great information on how large corporations do business in Panama.  Ralph Lauren occupies two office spaces within the building, one that is only offices for personelle, the other... an amazing showroom!  Their view isn't half bad either...

A delicious lunch was icing on the cake of a wonderful meeting!

From lunch we swung by the hotel before embarking on a little shopping for a few last minute touristy purchases.  Multiple molas and other knick knacks were purchased for family friends and ourselves.

Our final dinner was one I don't think any of us will forget.  We all gathered at a restaurant just down the street from our hotel for one last meal, lasting a bit longer than usual (around three hours), but that is what we learned to expect in Latin America.  We all shared our favorite moment from the trip (apparently everyone really loves buttons!) and reflected a bit on the week we spent exploring Panama! Needless to say, I think we all we sad to see the week end but come away with new friends, memories, and ample information on doing business internationally! 

Day 4 - Panama Pacifico

3D model of the Panama Pacifico master development plan.

Today we had another early start and had to be on the bus at 8:00 AM sharp. We made the trip to Panama Pacifico, which was about 30 minutes from where we are staying. Our first stop was the the Panama Pacifico Agency. There we learned about the plan for Panama Pacifico as a special economic area, similar to a free trade zone, with special incentives for the companies that are located there. Panama Pacifico is currently still under development, but it has an airport, residential areas, commercial real estate, and warehousing.










Green Ivory button manufacturuing process.





Our first company visit was Green Ivory. It was the highlight of the day. Green Ivory is a relatively small company that manufactures buttons for companies that are looking for a high quality button. Green Ivory orginated in Ecuador, but relocated to Panama Pacifico due to political turmoil. There is a lot more that goes into the button manufacturing process than one might expect. The button manufactured by the company are created from a raw materical that is a nut sourced out of Ecuador. Throughout the process, buttons are weighed, turned, punched, embossed, dyed, dried, and smoothed.  They also undergo a quality control process. Due to the processing, there is a good bit of waste created. However, because the raw materical is the all natural Tagua nut, the company sells the waste as cattle feed. Green Ivory has clients such as J Crew and Ralph Lauren, and is looking for more to utilize its buttons.


Here is a link for the company`s website: http://www.corozobuttons.com/

Green Ivory embossed buttons.



Next, was a tour at Dell. Dell was at Panama Pacifico, before it was even Panama Pacifico. They have a very large campus that houses a call center for customers in North and South America. All of the employees for the call center must be proficient enough in English in order to work.

We took a break for lunch and then we did a bus tour of Panama Pacifico. 

Our last stop was VF Corporation. It was very interesting to meet with the Sourcing Director who is a College of Textiles graduate. As Dean Godfrey says, you run into people from the College of Textiles in all parts of the world.

Finally, we went to Allbrook Mall which we have heard about from everyone since we have been here. Apparenly it is the place to be. People even travel by bus from Costa Rica for the cheap shopping. It is like retail overload! The mall is two miles long and is so big that some store have two or three retail spaces. After a long day, it was an interesting, but overwhelming experience.

Tomorrow we will be visting Panama´s main attraction, the Canal!












Panama - Day 3!

Today was a jam packed pay going from coast to coast - Literally. Our day started off bright and early witha logn bus ride up to the Atlantic coast to the city of Colon. The city of Colon looked much different than Panama City (where we are staying) and was apparently more dangerous, even for Panamanians. In Colon, our first stop was the Free Trade Zone. We got to go in the VIP entrance! Or maybe we just got lost. Not quite sure. At the Colon Free Trade Zone, we first met with the President of the Users Association of the Colon Free Trade Zone. This was a great opportunity to hear how the Free Trade Zone works, and learn how companies utilize this area to distribute not only in Panama but throughout Latin America.  After our meeting, we had the chance to explore the Free Trade Zone.  Since, this area is mainly for wholesale we weren`'t able to go shopping as one might think one would do in a duty free area. We did get the chance to explore some fabric stores which as textile kids we were all super excited about! Unfortunately, I don´t think any of us could fit a bolt (the minimum purchase) in our luggage.

Lunch was at the Country Club in Colon. All the tables were decorated in ornate white fabric. We wondered who was getting married.

After the wedding, we had a chance to tour a distributor for Catterpillar (CAT). I´m sure my father would have been quite jealous of the massive cranes, tractors, etc. that I was getting to see. After the brief CAT tour, our next stop was Motta International! This was a really interesting stop, that I was not expecting. Motta serves a middleman for many international brands such as Sony, Nintendo, Ray Bans, Longchamp, Swaroski, and high end wine and liquor.  Motta sets up showroom for the Latin American retailers, and then also has their own retail stores in Latin American airports.  This was really cool to see set up - and we got a discont card!

Probably the best part of the day was our dinner activities. Dinner was an authentic, traditional Panamian cuisine with live entertainment! To me, there is nothing better than a show while I´m eating my food. The dancers all wore traditional Panamian garb. The entire ensemble called the Pollera apparently costs around $4,000, and is entirely handmade and extremely detailed craftsmanship.  The entire show was so much fun - and Will even got called up to dance on stage!

Tomorrow brings lots of company visits - should be exciting!

Emily-Rose

Exploring Panama City

Today seeing all things touristy was the only thing on our schedule. We started our day with a bus tour of the city, the views of the skyline were beautiful. 

Our first stop was the Panama Viejo cathedral in the Old City, which is among ruins from the 1600's. The old stone was amazing and juxtaposition between the ruins and new skyscrapers behind was incredible.
 After leaving Panama Viejo we made a quick stop by Rey, a Panamanian grocery store, to stock up on water, snacks, and other necessities to get us through the week. Personally, purchasing princess gummies was a definite need. Trump's Ocean Deck provided the perfect backdrop for a lovely lunch before hopping into three passengers cars for an afternoon of exploring Casco Antiguo, another old historic part of the city.
 Currently there is huge project in motion to renovate and restore the amazing French and Spanish influenced buildings in this area. While many remain untouched and are literally crumbling, the complete buildings are stunning. A little shopping in an open air market full of handmade goods by local Panamanians made for the perfect post car ride activity. Panama hats and molas were obvious purchases. A few more stops and we found ourselves at Las Bovesas for a wonderful dinner of great food and engaging conversation. Nothing short of amazing first day in Panama!

Panama, Here We Come!

I can't tell you how excited I am to go to Panama in less than 2 days! However, there is still much to do before we leave on Saturday.

I have been anticipating this trip for a while now and made my packing list a few weeks ago. I don't want to overpack, but I want to make sure I have everything I need. As a fashion student, I have thought a lot about what I am going to wear for weeks. Making a list has definitely helped! I will put this to the test when I pack everything tomorrow.  I will be taking knit dresses for business casual because they will travel well, as well as other more casual outfits for our adventures around the city. I will also be packing granola bars and dark chocolate for when hunger and chocolate cravings strike. I am also bringing Flat Stanley with me. I have a cousin who is doing a Flat Stanley project in her kindergarten class. Flat Stanley is a paper doll that the students send to out of town friends and family. When he arrives, he is to be treated like a visiting guest. Friends and family keep Stanley for a few weeks and then they send him back and write about Stanley's experiences. Through this project, the class will learn about the different places that Stanley has visited and learn about the world around them. As you can see by the photo below,  I have a lot of work to do tomorrow but Flat Stanley is ready to go!

One thing I am really excited about is the weather. Raleigh has actually experienced winter weather this year, and I am glad that I will be able to spend my Spring Break in a warm place. The average temperature in Panama this time of year is 90 degree! I also look forward to getting to know the culture and people of Panama and putting my Spanish to good use, as well as trying Panamanian food.

I look forward to making connections with the other program participants and can't wait to be on the ground in Panama experiencing new things and meeting new people.

Más Luego,

Mallory