Los indicadores sobre la confianza del consumidor y la percepción del futuro de Panamá deben tomarse con seriedad, aunque una cifra negativa no define el destino del país, toda vez que esto “debe ayudarnos a identificar prioridades, corregir y avanzar”.

El planteamiento lo hace la Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá, al referirse al Índice de Confianza del Consumidor Panameño (ICCP), que a junio alcanzó 75 puntos, un resultado que refleja una disminución de 17 puntos en comparación con enero de 2026, cuando el índice se situó en 92 puntos.

Esta medición refleja un deterioro en las expectativas de los panameños, influenciado principalmente por el impacto del aumento en el precio de los combustibles y por la incertidumbre que generan tanto los factores externos como los internos sobre la economía, dijo en su momento María Alejandra Cuéllar, CEO y gerente general de The Marketing Group.

Este contexto ha incidido en una mayor cautela de los consumidores respecto a su situación financiera, sus posibilidades de ahorro y las perspectivas económicas del país.

Para el gremio empresarial, “ver el vaso medio lleno no significa desconocer los problemas. Significa asumirlos y trabajar en soluciones. La confianza se fortalece cuando las palabras se traducen en empleo, inversión, educación, reglas claras y resultados”.

Aduce que Panamá necesita que instituciones, empresas, trabajadores, academia y ciudadanos aporten, desde sus responsabilidades, en una misma dirección.

Indica que al Gobierno le corresponde facilitar las condiciones para el desarrollo, mientras que el papel del sector privado es invertir, innovar, generar empleo y actuar con ética e integridad.

La Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá hace hincapié en que “trabajar en equipo exige diálogo, coordinación y enfoque en resultados. No se trata de señalar responsabilidades ajenas, sino de asumir las propias. Del diagnóstico a la acción. De la acción a los resultados”.

Argumenta que el sector privado está haciendo su parte, refiriéndose específicamente al Bootcamp del IV Congreso de Emprendimiento, evento a realizarse el 5 de agosto, donde se “acompañará a quienes buscan pasar de la idea al negocio mediante formación, inteligencia artificial, sostenibilidad, formalización y Networking. Una buena idea puede convertirse en empresa, innovación y empleo”.

De igual manera, sostiene que promueven oportunidades de pasantía conforme a la nueva Ley de Pasantías, mediante lo que llaman Pupilo Hubs, donde las empresas publican sus vacantes y recibe candidatos ya validados una vez el algoritmo cruza habilidades técnicas, blandas, categoría profesional y arquetipo de personalidad, por lo que cada candidato llega con un score de afinidad real.

En su afán de contribuir al desarrollo del país, los empresarios adelantaron que en septiembre apoyarán un taller del Ministerio de Educación orientado a cómo iniciar la vida laboral, dirigido a estudiantes graduandos. Además, agregan, impulsarán el programa Padrinos de Bachillerato.

El sector privado impulsa exposiciones comerciales a realizar en abril de 2027, y posteriormente en octubre el World of Coffee Panamá, eventos que puntualizan generan economía real.

“Atraen compradores, inversión y visitantes; activan hoteles, transporte, restaurantes, logística, tecnología y servicios; y fortalecen a Panamá como hub regional de exposiciones y eventos”, manifiesta el sector privado.

En un texto firmado por su presidente, Aurelio Barría Pino, la Cámara hace un recuento de sus periplos, que en los últimos meses los llevaron, de la mano del Gobierno, a misiones en Grecia Y Marruecos “para identificar inversión extranjera y ampliar los vínculos comerciales del país.

De igual manera, en su recuento manifiestan que han tenido contactos con delegaciones empresariales de Miami y Emiratos Árabes Unidos, con el propósito de para conectar empresarios y explorar oportunidades de inversión y negocios.

A suspect with alleged ties to Germany’s «Islamist scene» is on the run after allegedly plowing a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival and attacking others with a machete in what officials believe was an Islamic terror attack that left one person dead and at least 29 others injured.

German authorities on Sunday launched an intensive manhunt for Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots whom officials say may be armed and dangerous.

«Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack,» German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.

AT LEAST 1 DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED AFTER VAN RAMS INTO CROWD AT PRIDE FESTIVAL; SUSPECT ‘KNOWN TO POLICE’

The minister said the suspect had previously come to the attention of authorities for multiple crimes, as well as his «radicalization and belonging to the Islamist scene.»

Dobrindt said Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother became a naturalized German citizen in 2002, three years before he was born. He said the suspect previously received a suspended prison sentence of one year and 10 months but did not disclose what he had been convicted of.

Police officers stand near a vehicle crashed into a tree after driving into a crowd near Berlin’s annual Pride event, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Police said a white van drove into a crowd in Berlin’s Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. on Saturday before crashing into a tree. Authorities say the suspect then attacked several people with a machete before fleeing.

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A woman was killed, while three people suffered life-threatening injuries and eight others were seriously hurt, according to Berlin’s fire service. Dobrindt said at least 29 people were injured.

Emergency personnel and police gather in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

The attack happened a few hundred yards from Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride celebration — one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ events — but not on the parade route or at the festival’s closing event near the Brandenburg Gate. Investigators said the victims appeared to include both Pride attendees and other people who were in the park.

Organizers stopped the celebration shortly after the attack, cutting off a live performance and urging people to leave the area.

People stand on 17 June Street following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day in Berlin on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/DPA via AP)

SYNAGOGUE IN LONDON TARGETED IN ATTEMPTED ‘ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIME,’ UK POLICE SAY

Berlin police said Ballout has been identified as the suspect but had not been arrested as of Sunday. Police spokesman Florian Nath earlier said the suspect was known to investigators because of his alleged ties to Islamic groups in Berlin.

«The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,» Nath said, according to The Associated Press. «We still have no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself.»

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt speaks to the media near the scene where a car rammed into a crowd at the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Police searched several locations across Berlin overnight and into Sunday, including an apartment in the Schöneberg district, but did not find the suspect.

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The manhunt is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: A conservative legal group is telling New York City police officers they can contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directly, even if local sanctuary policies say otherwise, releasing a new guide as border czar Tom Homan prepares a major immigration enforcement surge in the nation’s largest city.

Fox News Digital has obtained an unreleased 35-page handbook titled «Law Enforcement Officer Immigration Cooperation Guide» from America First Legal (AFL) that tells state and local police officers they can share a person’s immigration-status information directly with ICE even if New York City or other sanctuary city policies say otherwise.

The guide argues that Section 1373 of federal law bars state and local governments from preventing officers from sharing citizenship or immigration-status information with federal immigration authorities like ICE.

TOM HOMAN WARNS ICE SURGE COMING TO NEW YORK CITY AS MAMDANI BOASTS ABOUT SANCTUARY STATUS

America First Legal is a nonprofit which describes itself as «founded to unapologetically and boldly defend the rights of everyday Americans.»

The guide arrives days after Homan revealed he had reviewed plans to deploy «more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen» into New York City after Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order reinforcing the city’s sanctuary-status policies.

The guide repeatedly cites Section 1373 of federal immigration law, arguing that state and local governments «may not prohibit, or in any way restrict» officials from sending immigration-status information to federal authorities.

DOJ ESCALATES BLUE-STATE ICE STANDOFF AFTER STATES REFUSE KEY FEDERAL REQUEST

Federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building. According to White House border czar Tom Homan, ICE will increase its operations in New York City due to its status as a sanctuary city. (Getty Images, File)

It tells officers they may contact ICE’s 24-hour Law Enforcement Support Center to verify a person’s immigration status using only a name and date of birth and says officers may do so «regardless of any local directive telling you not to,» according to the document obtained by Fox News Digital.

The release comes as the Trump administration prepares to dramatically increase immigration enforcement in New York.

Homan told Fox News last week that a significant ICE operation is coming to the city after self-described democratic socialist Mamdani reaffirmed New York’s sanctuary policies.

NYC MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI RELEASES AUDIT ACCUSING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENTS OF MISLEADING TACTICS

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Trump administration continue to clash over immigration enforcement. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images, File)

«It’s coming,» Homan said. «There’s going to be a surge, and there needs to be a surge.»

While Homan declined to discuss operational details, he said ICE would not back away from enforcing immigration law despite opposition from city leaders.

The guide comes as Mamdani and the Trump administration continue to clash over immigration enforcement.

Mamdani’s Executive Order 13 directs the NYPD to review, update and train officers on department policies governing communication, cooperation and coordination with federal immigration authorities.

The order says the city believes «the aggressive tactics that certain non-local law enforcement agencies use in pursuing civil immigration enforcement actions… hinder public safety by creating a culture of fear.»

America First Legal argues those local rules cannot lawfully prevent an officer from voluntarily sharing immigration-status information with ICE because federal law supersedes conflicting local policies.

The guide also argues sanctuary policies could create legal risks for the officials who enforce them. AFL contends some officials could face federal criminal charges for obstructing immigration enforcement and that victims of crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants released despite ICE detainers could, in some cases, sue those officials under federal civil RICO law.

The organization is also inviting officers who believe they were threatened, disciplined or retaliated against for cooperating with ICE to seek confidential legal representation.

«Politicians who hide behind sanctuary policies are not above the law, and they have no right to bully or gag the officers who are trying to keep their communities safe,» AFL senior counsel James Rogers said in a statement accompanying the guide.

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Gene Hamilton, president of America First Legal, said officers «should never be forced to choose between following federal law and following unlawful directives to appease politicians committed to sanctuary policies.»

New York City Hall did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley contributed to this reporting.