President José Raúl Mulino Quintero and Minister of Commerce and Industry Julio A. Molto signed Executive Decree 6 of April 13, 2026, published in Digital Official Gazette No. 30502-A. The decree implements Law 497 of November 13, 2025, which created the Office for the Promotion of Investment Attraction and Export Promotion, functionally named PROPANAMÁ, attached directly to the Office of the Minister of Commerce and Industry.

The new structure explicitly separates two functions that previously coexisted within the Vice Ministry of Foreign Trade: the formulation of public policy and the administration of incentive regimes — which remain within the reformed National Directorates — and the operational execution of international trade promotion, transferred in its entirety to PROPANAMÁ. The decree amends articles 8, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, and 93 of Executive Decree 46 of July 14, 2008, and repeals articles 85, 86, and Section Four of Chapter IX of that regulation.

PROPANAMÁ will have four operational units: the Investment Promotion Coordination, the Export Promotion Coordination, the Made-in-Panama and Productive Origin brand office, and the International Coordination and Institutional Articulation unit. The office will be led by a Director appointed by the Executive branch. A high-level advisory board serving on an honorary basis — chaired by the Minister of Commerce and Industry and comprising representatives of the Foreign Ministry, MEF, PROMTUR, the Secretariat for Economic Affairs, and the private sector — will advise on the definition of strategic promotional sectors.

The decree sets a ninety-day deadline for existing units to transfer to PROPANAMÁ the records, databases, personnel, and budget linked to investment and export promotion functions. The National Directorate of Investment retains administration of the Single Investment Processing Window and oversight of special regimes, while the National Directorate of Export retains the Single Foreign Trade Window and the formulation of export policy.

The regulatory framework responds to the stated objective in Law 497 of concentrating promotional functions in a specialized, results-oriented technical body in line with international standards applicable to investment promotion agencies. The context is demanding: Panama seeks to rebuild the flow of foreign direct investment affected by the closure of the Cobre Panamá mine in 2023 and its removal from the FATF grey list. The new institutional architecture aims to eliminate overlapping agendas and misaligned institutional messaging that, according to the decree itself, have limited the impact of capital-attraction efforts.