It is a non-profit Civil Organization founded on November 5, 1979, which defends the interests of the Users of the Colon Free Zone. Its mission is to unite and represent the users of the Colon Free Zone at a national and international level by actively participating in studies of commissions and working groups within the guild, as well as with official, private, and labor entities through a permanent dialogue with government authorities and especially with those of the Panamanian Free Zone to improve and increase the services of this free zone and above all improve the socio-economic conditions of the country and especially of the province of Colon.
Colon Free Zone Users Association
History of the AUZLC
It could well be said that 1979 was the year of business and union movements in Panama. In that year the Panama Maritime Chamber, the Panamanian Association of Maritime Law, the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), and the Colon Free Zone Users Association were founded, surely among several others. It is no coincidence. The Torrijos-Carter Treaties, signed two years earlier, paved the way for a new citizen perspective to grow in that society that was forging itself in search of its own identity. A new turn, new civic responsibilities were born on the brink of the reversion process of the canal areas that would conclude in 1999 with the handover of the lands and the administration of the Canal to the Panamanian State. These organizations, the result of historical backgrounds that gave them their foundation, were formed by belligerent leaders who established the first criteria between the State, the Canal zone, institutions, and this society eager to evolve.
In the first instance, the Free Zone was founded as an autonomous institution of the Panamanian State, to develop as a strategic area to promote the country’s competitive advantages by being the gateway to the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. The initiative to build this free zone was taken by the then President of the Republic, Enrique Jimenez. Having identified the geographical position of the ports and the interoceanic waterway of Panama and its importance as a crucial passage for global navigation, the Colon Free Zone was created as a strategic center connecting the industries of the United States and Europe with customers in Latin America. Thus, the Colon Free Zone Users Association, founded 40 years ago, was the product of the organization of visionary businessmen who settled in the Atlantic zone, projecting what would become the most important commercial emporium in the country and one of the most important free zones in the Americas. The possibility of concentrating mainly warehouses, but also supplier industries, in the same geographical point brought benefits to Panama in other different areas. Construction, the real estate business, the growth of Panamanian industries, the transfer of knowledge, the growth of the business tourism industry, found development spaces that contributed to the growing Panamanian economy.
Our country was steadily making its way, while the Panama Canal revenues increased and air traffic grew exponentially. On November 5 of that 1979, the Colon Free Zone Users Association was born, opening its doors in the S.K.F. company building, only to move months later to the current facilities on 18th Street, which have identified the organization that brings together the most important companies of our main free zone ever since. Non-profit and without partisan colors, the AU was born destined to defend the rights of the 150 businessmen who initially formed it, led by a businessman who enjoys the greatest affection and recognition from its members: Don José Bettsak. He was the one who, with dedication, convened the most important businessmen who at that moment identified the great strategic opportunity represented by a consolidated presence in the booming province of Colon. Other distinguished businessmen would succeed him in the presidency. Men and women who, with firmness, worked to consolidate laws that represented the interests of the members’ companies and that were for the benefit of the ever-growing world trade.
In the 1990s, the Colon Free Zone became the Latin American headquarters for companies from Japan and newly industrialized Asian countries, and a center for re-exports to the United States. The new millennium brought strong challenges to the Free Zone and therefore to the Users Association. The most devastating worldwide has been the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the global and national economy and has represented a restructuring in the change of life and forms of work and trade for everyone. Today, the Users Association remains firm in its mission to unite and represent the users of the Colon Free Zone, to watch over their rights and legitimate interests, and to support them in the economic reactivation process in which we all join for the good of our country.
Objectives of the Users Association
- To unite and represent the users of the Colon Free Zone.
- To look after the rights and legitimate interests of its members.
- To publicize and promote the services provided by this economic activity as an international trade center both inside and outside the country.
- To provide its associates with the means and facilities for information, advice, and training that contribute to competitively and economically improving their international services.
- To actively participate in studies of commissions and working groups of the Users Association, as well as with official, private, and labor entities that aim to improve the socio-economic conditions of the country and especially of the province of Colon.
- To maintain a permanent dialogue with government authorities and especially with those of the Colon Free Zone to improve and increase the services of this free zone.
- To create means of social contribution that benefit the community of Colon and cooperate in the establishment, together with the employees of the User members of this association, of facilities for recreational, cultural, and sports activities for their benefit and their families.
- To maintain close relationships with international institutions and exchange knowledge and services with similar groups in other free zones abroad.
- To promote at the national level the principles of democracy and free enterprise as essential factors for the development and existence of our activity.
- To ensure that the associates and their representatives maintain the highest ethics in the provision of their services and the development of their commercial and social activities.
List of Presidents throughout history
- EDWIN CHEN Term 2020-2021
- DANIEL ROJAS Term 2018-2019 | 2019-2020
- USHA MAYANI Term 2016-2017 | 2017-2018
- MARCO TÉLLEZ Term 2015-2016
- LUIS GERMÁN GÓMEZ Term 2016-2017 | 2017-2018
- SURSE PIERPOINT Term 2012-2013
- SEVERO SOUSA Term 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2010-2011 | 2011-2012
- GIOVANNI FERRARI Term 1995-1996 | 2000-2001 | 2003-2004 | 2008-2009 | 2009-2010
- DAVID COHEN Term 2007-2008
- HERTZEL LEVY Term 2004-2005
- DIGNA DONADO Term 2001-2002 | 2002-2003
- SHLOMO DAYAN Term 1999-2000
- NIDAL WAKED Term 1997-1998 | 1998-1999
- NESSIM BASSAN M. Term 1989-1990 | 1996-1997
- VÍCTOR M. LEWIS Term 1994-1995
- ABDIEL NASSER WAKED Term 1993-1994
- WELLINGTON FUNG Term 1997-1998 | 1998-1999
- STEVE NAHEM Term 1990-1991
- JAIME MIZRACHI Term 1989-1990
- FRANCISCO ANDERSON Term 1986-1987 | 1987-1988
- ALFREDO MADURO Term 1985-1986
- AHMED WAKED Term 1983-1985 | 1980-1981
- MONHANDAS T. MAYANI Term 1981-1982
- JOSÉ BETTSAK Term 1979-1980 | 1980-1981