Data-center law in Panama

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-05

Panama has no data-center-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; a data-center project is governed by whichever of the country's special economic-area regimes it locates within.

Ley No. 41 de 20 de julio de 2004 creates the Área Económica Especial Panamá-Pacífico, a special legal, fiscal, customs, labor, migratory and business regime administered by an autonomous state agency, granting a broad tax exemption to enterprises established there, subject to income tax, dividend tax and remittance tax under the Law's own article 60.

The same Law requires a concession for installing and operating public utility services within the Área Panamá-Pacífico, naming telecommunications and electricity generation, distribution and sale expressly alongside water, sewage and waste services, and requires those concessions to meet the same legal and regulatory requirements that apply nationally, coordinated through the Agencia.

A separate chapter applies Panama's general environmental-review legislation within the Área Panamá-Pacífico, but that chapter's specific content is not described here. The Ley No. 32 de 2011 free-zone regime and the Ley No. 41 de 2007 Sedes de Empresas Multinacionales regime are identified as leads for this jurisdiction but are not verified against a primary source, and are reported as an open gap rather than a checked absence.

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Instruments on record

1 instrument on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Ley 41 de 2004, Área Económica Especial Panamá-Pacífico

In force

Ley No. 41 de 20 de julio de 2004 Que crea un régimen especial para el establecimiento y operación del Área Económica Especial Panamá-Pacífico, y una entidad autónoma del Estado, denominada Agencia del Área Económica Especial Panamá-Pacífico

Effective 2004-07-20 · Applies to private

Article 1 creates a special legal, fiscal, customs, labor, migratory and business regime for the Área Económica Especial Panamá-Pacífico, in the district of Arraiján, and an autonomous state agency to implement it, regulate activities there, and contract a developer or operator.

Article 58 declares the Area free of every direct and indirect tax, contribution, fee and charge for enterprises established there, the developer and the operator, except for the taxes article 60 states apply (income tax on net taxable income from activities within the Area, dividend and complementary tax, and remittance tax), and lists nine specific exonerations including import duties, the transfer tax on goods and services, stamp tax, and real-property transfer tax on commercial and industrial improvements.

Article 108, in the chapter on Concession of Public Services and Infrastructure, requires a concession for installing and operating drinking-water, sewage, waste-treatment, security, and public telecommunications, electricity-generation, distribution and sale services and other required infrastructure, on the same legal and regulatory terms that apply nationally, coordinated by the Agencia with the relevant public entities.

Article 109 opens a chapter applying Panama's environmental legislation within the Area, but its specific content is not described here.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.