Ursula Kiener Ford, President of The Panama Club, picked 40 under 40 by Capital Newspaper
Profile: Owner of Panama Travel Group, The Panama Club (Panama relocation agency and investment) and Forlacol Insurance Brokers.
President of the youth committee and vice chairwoman of the tourism commission of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE) and advises the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama.
1. Which do you think has been the secret of your success this year? This year has been a year of risk for me, to give up highly paid job and open 2 new companies (Panama Travel Group and The Panama Club) betting on the opportunities that only a country like Panama offers to young entrepreneurs, doing what we I do best, giving foreigners the best experience of the country, focusing on a high level of customer service.
I consider this an adventure, I work a lot, but I do not consider my job work, rather something I really enjoy, a passion.
2. What are your views on the future of Panama? I am so proud to be Panamanian, we’re the Latin American country with the strongest growth in a year of extreme recession. We have an economy based on so many sectors which allows us to weigh the difficult times and you see we are discovering new areas in which we can position ourselves like tourism. We have an enviable geographic position, the best logistics and banking system of the region and a center-right government that is committed to providing better development opportunities and has a social agenda for the Panamanians to improve their quality of life.
3. What does the country needs to keep growing? We need to bet on education for Panamanians, our human resource, which is our best introduction. We have everything in this country, which is why so many foreigners are so interested in it and are bringing a lot of investment and creating opportunities, but education has lagged behind, which does not allow us to fill the specialized jobs generated. At the same time it is unusual to see Panamanians opening their own businesses, since there is a lack of entrepreneurship culture.
About the Capital Newspaper: it is a published newspaper focused on finance, economics, business and technology whose versions, El Financiero of Costa Rica and Panama Financial Capital, began circulating in March 1995 and August 2000 respectively. It targets an audience that requires current, reliable and quality information and is decision makers in private companies and state institutions, which make the editorial spirit of the publication.
The Financial and Financial Capital favor free enterprise, competition, trade liberalization and modernization of the State, so that editorially is against monopolies, trade barriers and distorting everything and economic environment which affect business performance macroeconomically in each country.
