ISDS Case Map
Panama
President George W. Bush said Tuesday he would do his best to get Congress to approve a pending free trade agreement with Panama, after meeting with its President Martin Torrijos in the White House.
Panama's cabinet has approved the free trade agreement (FTA) between Panama and Guatemala signed on Feb. 26, Commerce and Industry Minister Alejandro Ferrer said Thursday.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday said Mexico was ready to talk to Panama about restarting stalled discussions on a free trade deal.
Panama's government has signed a free-trade agreement with Guatemala, Central America's biggest economy with 11 million residents.
Panama said Tuesday that negotiations for a free trade agreement with Guatemala is 90 percent advanced. Panama plans to negotiate a similar accord with the EU en bloc.
Panama and Chile will implement a bilateral free trade agreement on March 7, signed by both countries, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.
A report from the US International Trade Commission (September 2007)
Bush urged Congress on Friday to approve free-trade agreements with Peru, Panama and Colombia "as soon as possible," saying failure to do so would diminish US leadership in the hemisphere.
Washington officials say that even if Gonzalez -- the president of Panama's National Assembly, who is wanted on murder charges in the US -- were to quit, attitudes in Congress and in the Bush administration have hardened against the free trade deal.
Three weeks before the first round of negotiations on an Association Agreement between the EU and Central America to be held in Costa Rica at the end of October, Ms Ferrero-Waldner wishes to send a strong signal to the region of the importance the EU accords to this agreement.
