By Adam Thomson in Panama City for the Financial Times - Samuel Lewis, Panama’s vice-president, has urged the US Congress to push ahead with ratification of a free-trade agreement with the Central American country, arguing that it represented a ”win-win” opportunity for both nations. ”The agreement does not threaten US jobs,” Mr Lewis said in an interview with the Financial Times this week. “It will only mean growth for both Panama and the US.” Mr. Lewis’s call follows an overwhelming local support for the agreement after legislators in the Panamanian assembly ratified the deal on Wednesday by 58 votes in favour to just three against. Many analysts expect the US Congress to ratify the bilateral accord during the third quarter of this year, particularly after Panama agreed to include some last-minute provisions on sensitive issues such as labour rights, intellectual property and investment protection. (more)
Panama, one of the fastest-growing economies in the region thanks largely to an unprecedented boom in construction, is not a member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (Cafta), which the US signed with Central American countries and the Dominican Republic in 2004. The government of MartÃn Torrijos has made it clear that the trade deal is vital to consolidate PanamaÂ’s strong growth and to fulfill its strategy of turning the country of just over 3m people into a logistics hub for the region. But Mr Lewis said he was still not fully confident that US legislators would ratify the agreement. “If the debate were just about Panama IÂ’m sure it would be ratified very quickly but unfortunately trade discussions in the US run much deeper than Panama.” Implementation of the deal, he said, would bring significant advantages for both countries, he said. For Panama, he said the accord would not only guarantee existing jobs in the countryÂ’s agricultural sector but create additional jobs.The US is by far PanamaÂ’s largest trading partner, purchasing about 48 per cent of the countryÂ’s exports and providing 27 per cent of its imports. Mr Lewis said ratification of the deal would open up the worldÂ’s most important market for Panamanian products. ”We are talking about virtually the entire universe of the things we produce,” he said. At the same time, the deal would provide solid guarantees and a stable, predictable environment for US companies looking to use Panama as a base to capture regional markets. ”It gives companies the sort of legal framework the look for when operating outside their home countries,” he said. Mr Lewis insisted that the government has made significant progress in recent years on building and strengthening the countryÂ’s institutions, and cited the judiciary as one example of the advances. But he also admitted that there was some way to go. ”Building institutions is not simply a question of making a plan and snapping your fingers,” he said. ”It doesnÂ’t happen overnight but it will happen.”
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Panama, one of the fastest-growing economies in the region thanks largely to an unprecedented boom in construction, is not a member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (Cafta), which the US signed with Central American countries and the Dominican Republic in 2004. The government of MartÃn Torrijos has made it clear that the trade deal is vital to consolidate PanamaÂ’s strong growth and to fulfill its strategy of turning the country of just over 3m people into a logistics hub for the region. But Mr Lewis said he was still not fully confident that US legislators would ratify the agreement. “If the debate were just about Panama IÂ’m sure it would be ratified very quickly but unfortunately trade discussions in the US run much deeper than Panama.” Implementation of the deal, he said, would bring significant advantages for both countries, he said. For Panama, he said the accord would not only guarantee existing jobs in the countryÂ’s agricultural sector but create additional jobs.The US is by far PanamaÂ’s largest trading partner, purchasing about 48 per cent of the countryÂ’s exports and providing 27 per cent of its imports. Mr Lewis said ratification of the deal would open up the worldÂ’s most important market for Panamanian products. ”We are talking about virtually the entire universe of the things we produce,” he said. At the same time, the deal would provide solid guarantees and a stable, predictable environment for US companies looking to use Panama as a base to capture regional markets. ”It gives companies the sort of legal framework the look for when operating outside their home countries,” he said. Mr Lewis insisted that the government has made significant progress in recent years on building and strengthening the countryÂ’s institutions, and cited the judiciary as one example of the advances. But he also admitted that there was some way to go. ”Building institutions is not simply a question of making a plan and snapping your fingers,” he said. ”It doesnÂ’t happen overnight but it will happen.”
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