(Xinhua) Panama’s Trade and Industry Minister Roberto Enriquez announced on Friday that Panama will begin campaigning for a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) nations.
Panama will begin by sending a committee led by Francisco Alvarez de Soto, the vice minister with special responsibility for international trade negotiation, to EFTA member Iceland on Monday, Enriquez said. The other EFTA members are Switzerland, Norway and Lichtenstein.
Alvarez “will transmit to the Icelandic government, as we have with the other members of this trade group, Panama’s interest in launching free trade talks next year,” Enriquez said.
During his visit, Alvarez is set to meet with his counterpart Einar Gunnarsson to discuss the topic in depth. Alvarez will then fly to Berne, Switzerland for a Tuesday meeting with Swiss counterpart Marie-Gabrielle Ineiche-Fleisch.
“Switzerland and Norway are the two great motors of the EFTA group,”
Enriquez said. “Maintaining constant contact with the Swiss government is very important,” he added.
Alvarez will spend Wednesday and Thursday in Geneva and meet Kare Bryn, the EFTA’s secretary general and with Pascal Lamy, the director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).