The U.S.-Panama Business Council's new Southeast chapter hopes to connect companies, large or small, to the resources and people they need to effectively do business in Panama, Mr. Wallace says. CLICK HERE to watch the video interview.

The Southeast chapter of the U.S.-Panama Business Council aims to be a clearinghouse of information for companies of all sizes looking to start or grow their business in Panama, John Wallace, the chapter’s chairman, told GlobalAtlanta.

The new chapter launched in Atlanta on July 15 with a full day of Panama-related business seminars and activities at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

It is a branch of a national organization that has promoted economic ties between the U.S. and the Central American country for nearly 14 years.

Mr. Wallace is an account executive at J.P. Morgan & Chase Co.'s recently acquired Bear Stearns. He has a long history of involvement in Latin America and envisions the organization as a place where individuals or companies can connect with people or information they need to handle business-related issues.

Multinational companies like Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. will have different concerns than a mom-and-pop exporter, but the chapter welcomes both as contributors to a broad pool of resources and contacts it hopes to build.

“Ideally we’d like to have as members anybody who’s got any interest in Panama,” Mr. Wallace said in a recent video interview.

With that base, the chapter will eventually segment its membership into industry categories and host events that hone in on the needs of specific sectors.  

Mr. Wallace cited tourism as one example, saying that the chapter could use the national organization’s government connections to bring in appropriate Panamanian and U.S. officials to talk about the rapidly developing industry. 

The council’s ability to attract high-level delegates was evident at the recent launch.  Panamanian Minister of Commerce and Industry Carmen Gisela Vergara made an impromptu speech at the lunch, gave a presentation on her country’s economic growth and answered questions throughout the day.

Also on hand was former Ambassador Juan Sosa, founder and president of the bi-national council.  Mr. Sosa represented Panama in Washington at the time that American forces invaded the country in 1989 to depose dictator Manuel Noriega.

Mr. Wallace said that developing within the context of Mr. Sosa’s well-established organization will help the new chapter steer clear of many pitfalls other business groups face at the outset.

“This organization already has a great deal of support from not only the U.S. government but also the Panama government,” he said.

Boards of the organization's offices in both countries are filled with government officials, ex-diplomats and industry leaders.  It also has ties with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Panama as well as the American Chamber of Commerce & Industry there.

This year’s Panama Day event was not the first ever held in Atlanta. A 45-member delegation from Panama visited the Georgia capital in 2004.  Top government officials, including the second vice president, tourism director and Panama City mayor, made the trip.

At the time, the two countries had recently completed the second round of negotiations for a free trade agreement that was eventually signed in 2007 and ratified by Panama’s Legislature with a 58-3 vote.  The measure still awaits a vote in the U.S. Congress.

Mr. Sosa has said that Mr. Wallace, Southeast chapter President Luis Hall and others will have to be vocal supporters for the agreement in the region, where he said some legislators are not prone to support free trade.