CLICK FOR VIDEO to see Mr. Hall discuss how the new chapter will aim to get the word out about the "new Panama," a vibrant country with trade and investment opportunities extending well beyond the famous Panama Canal.

Carmen Gisela Vergara, Panama's minister of commerce and industry. Photo courtesy of the U.S.-Panama Business Council.

Ken Stewart (left), commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, talks with Jorge Fernandez of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (center) and Ambassador Juan Sosa at the conference. Photo courtesy of USPA.

A bi-national business group recently launched a Southeast branch in Atlanta to promote trade and investment between the region and the Central American nation of Panama.

The new chapter, an office of the 14-year-old U.S.-Panama Business Council, has officially existed only for a few days, but leaders of the group have already built up a considerable agenda.

During a lunch that kicked off an all-day Panama program at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, board members said the new chapter would promote the pending bilateral free trade agreement, lobby for an honorary consulate in Atlanta and build educational ties between the regions.

More than that, “it’s a conduit to let businesses grow in what they’re doing and educational institutions grow in what they’re doing,” said John Wallace, the organization’s chairman.

Before this week, the council only had Washington and Panama City offices, but growing synergies between Panama and the southern parts of the U.S. convinced leaders to start chapters in Houston and Atlanta on consecutive days, July 14-15.

In attendance at both events was Carmen Gisela Vergara, Panama’s minister of commerce and industry, and Juan Sosa, a former ambassador of Panama to the U.S. and founder and president of the bi-national business council.

Ms. Vergara praised the group’s plans, emphasizing the U.S.’s integral role in Panama’s growing economy.

“Fifty percent of what we export comes to this country and 40 percent of what we buy comes from this country,” she told the luncheon crowd of business leaders, university representatives and economic development officials.   

In the years following the U.S. invasion that toppled the regime of dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989, U.S.-Panama relations have improved considerably. 

Peaceful democratic elections have led to political stability.  Also, in accordance with a treaty orchestrated President Carter in 1977, the U.S. returned control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government in 1999, leading to jobs for the country’s citizens.

Even with these developments, 40 percent of Panamanians still live in poverty, and Ms. Vergara expressed gratitude to business council leaders for their goal of nudging along Panama’s economic development.

She thanked them for sharing “a vision that has taken a long time to be realized, and finally we can say we are starting on the path of what we intended to be as a nation many years ago.”

Panama’s potential is not lost on Georgia officials either.  At a “friendship dinner” later that evening, Georgia Director of International Trade Kathe Falls issued a proclamation from Gov. Sonny Perdue that listed the economic reasons he supports the new organization.

Exports of merchandise from Georgia to Panama last year are up 126 percent to $111 million from the 2003 total of $49 million.  Georgia is the top exporter of paper and the sixth-largest state exporter to Panama by dollar value.

Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, moderated an afternoon panel.  Heidi Green, deputy commissioner for global commerce at the department, attended the lunch. 

During a discussion that arose on the pending free trade agreement between the U.S. and Panama, Ms. Green emphasized the governor’s unwavering support for free trade that led to his appointment to President Bush’s trade advisory board.  She said she would work with the organization to encourage the governor to visit Panama on a trade mission early next year.

Mr. Sosa, who spoke extensively at the lunch, said one of the organization’s main goals should be to garner political support in Georgia for the FTA, which is approved by Panama’s legislature but now awaits a vote in Congress.

“We’re going to need a lot of help from the Southeast chapter because we have a lot of members of Congress in this area that are not so pro free trade,” he said.

Jorge Fernandez, vice president in the metro chamber’s global commerce division, offered the chamber’s endorsement of free trade with Panama. 

Mr. Fernandez helped launch a nonstop flight between Atlanta and Panama during his time with Delta Air Lines Inc.   He said that the flight adds to an already favorable “formula for trade and investment” between Atlanta and Panama. 

He also suggested that an honorary consulate be added to the mix. 

Tim Perry, an attorney at law firm Miller and Martin LLP who served seven years as honorary consul for Brazil in Atlanta, agreed. 

“For the wagon to move faster, you need two horses,” he said, alluding to government’s ability to help accelerate business ties.  He also mentioned that an honorary consulate is free, meaning governments can assess the need for a full-fledged office without financial risk.

He cited the new Brazilian Consulate in Atlanta as evidence.

“I’ve been replaced by 25 people,” he said.

Ms. Vergara said the idea of an honorary consulate is “excellent” and that she would pass along the recommendation to the vice president, who is also the foreign minister.

Ambassador Andrew Young, civil rights leader and former mayor of Atlanta, received the Panama Friendship Award at the dinner for his role in supporting the 1977 treaty granting Panama the rights to the canal at the end of the century.

Mr. Young was ambassador to the United Nations at the time.