Free trade agreement to be signed next month
BY MAURILIO SOTO
The News
Mexico and Panama signed a document on Monday that closes negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement, which will be formally signed next month.
President Enrique Peña Nieto received Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal in a welcoming ceremony at the National Palace in Mexico City, where the end of negotiations was announced after a private meeting between the two presidents.
Peña Nieto said that the agreement will be formally signed next month in Panama and will serve to strengthen commercial exchange between both countries so that Panama can one day join the Pacific Alliance.
“This instrument will strengthen the position of both nations to produce and distribute goods and services in the northern and southern parts of the country as much as in other international markets,” he said, adding that he supports Panama’s push to join the Pacific Alliance.
Martinelli thanked the Mexican government for its support of Panama’s entry into the Pacific Alliance, saying that the agreement will be “of great benefit for both countries” in terms of tourism, joint investment and in improving the quality of life of the countries’ residents.
“We are including Mexico in the subcategory of permanent residents, so that Mexican citizens who work for Mexican companies can have all of their paperwork processed in the shortest amount of time possible,” he said.
At dinner, both presidents reaffirmed the fraternal connections that exist between the two nations and said that the meeting served to deepen the relationship between them.
The free trade agreement will officially be signed next month at the 2014 Latin American World Economic Forum in Panama.
The two presidents also signed a tourism cooperation agreement, which will serve to increase tourism between the two nations.
Bilateral trade rose from $339 million in 2002 to $1,064 million in 2013, establishing Panama as Mexico’s eleventh most important trading partner in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Panamanian foreign direct investment reached $876 million in 2013, making it Mexico’s 19th most important investor.
Peña Nieto has often spoke of the importance of Mexico’s Latin American connections.
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