Panama is willing to serve as a bridge for Vietnamese goods to enter the Latin American market, President Alberto Martinelli has said.
The leader made the affirmation in Hanoi on October 26 at a meeting with Vietnamese business community in a bid to seek more business and investment opportunities between the two countries.
Vietnam , as one of the world’s leading rice and coffee exporters, will enjoy many favourable conditions to enter the Panama market, added Martinelli who is on his official visit to Vietnam from October 24 – 27.
He also confirmed that Panama is improving its tax and customs mechanisms as well as upgrading transportation infrastructure such as the expansion of the Panama Canal and the construction of the biggest airport in Latin America by 2014.
Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber and Commerce Industry Vu Tien Loc said that the two countries have rooms for cooperation such as marinetime transportation, agriculture and traditional medicine.
The two-way trade experienced a rapid growth in recent years, from 50 million USD in 2005 to 245 million USD in 2011.
Currently, Panama has nine investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of over 51 million USD./.VNA
