Harper Hails Canada-Panama
Free Trade Pact
OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper said on Friday that Canada-Panama
Free Trade Agreement was another step
towards building stronger ties with their
partners in Americas, after he witnessed the
signing of the agreement.
"During my visit to Panama in August of last
year, I had the pleasure of marking the
conclusion of negotiations on this historic
free trade deal with Panama's President
Ricardo Martinelli," he said.
Earlier in the day, Canada's Minister of
International Trade Peter Van Loan and
Panama's Minister of Commerce and Industry
Roberto Henrquez signed the FTA agreement
between the two counties, and parallel
agreements on Labor Cooperation and on the
Environment. The treaties will enter into
force once each country' s domestic
legislative approval processes are
completed.
Once implemented, the Canada-Panama Free
Trade Agreement will provide opportunities
for Canadian business by lowering tariffs on
goods and removing other trade barriers.
There will be benefits across a broad range
of sectors, including for the Canadian
construction, manufacturing and agriculture
industries.
The Free Trade Agreement will also expand
market access for Canadian service providers
in areas such as information and
communication technology, and engineering,
environmental, energy and financial
services. In the meantime, investment
provisions in the agreement provide greater
protection for Canadian investments in
Panama, which are mainly in banking and
financial services, and construction sector.
Canadian merchandise exports to Panama
totaled 91.4 million Canadian dollars (about
89.56 million US dollars) for 2009, while
import totaled 40.7 million Canadian
dollars. |
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