Latin Business Chronicle
September 15, 2008

analysis of new data from The World Bank, Panama replaces El Salvador as the least-expensive country in Latin America to export from while Venezuela is the worst.

Excerpt: Panama remains Latin America's leader when it comes to the overall environment for exporting and importing containerized goods, while Venezuela is the worst country, according to our analysis of the bank's Doing business survey for 2009. >Exporting a container typically costs $729 in Panama, the lowest price anywhere in Latin America. Other countries with the lowest prices include Chile ($745),  ($875), El Salvador ($880) and Paraguay($915).

"On the opposite end is Venezuela where it now costs a whopping $2,590 to export a typical container.; It's also 53.3 percent more expensive than in neighboring Colombia which has the second-highest price in Latin America per container ($1,690). Other expensive countries include Argentina ($1,480), Mexico ($1,472) and Bolivia ($1,425).