The president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, received on Thursday, July 6 at the Palacio de Las Garzas the Prime Minister of South Korea, Han Duck-soo, with whom he addressed various issues such as bilateral and regional cooperation, trade, investments, infrastructure, resources and renewable energies.
According to the Panamanian presidency, the head of the executive took advantage of the meeting to strengthen bilateral ties with South Korea in diplomatic, commercial and cultural matters.
Korea is the 12ª largest economy in the world, our second largest trading partner in Asia and the fifth user of the Panama Canal.
Han Duck-soo, a South Korean economist and politician, is in Panama after participating in the Summit of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), in Trinidad and Tobago.
After the meeting with President Cortizo Cohen, the South Korean Prime Minister and his delegation went to the Cabinet Hall in the Presidency to hold an expanded meeting with Ministers Federico Alfaro, of Commerce and Industries; Vladimir Franco, in charge of Foreign Affairs; José Alejandro Rojas, counselor of Facilitation for Private Investment; Saleh Asvat, head of Cabinet and national secretary of Public-Private Partnership; Jorge
At the working meeting, the Minister of Trade and Industries stressed that Panama and South Korea maintain a very close and long-standing economic link that was strengthened with the recent entry into force in Panama of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of Korea and the Republics of Central America.
Exports to the South Korean market increased by 98% in 2022, since the entry into force of the trade agreement, with copper minerals being the main export, representing 97%, said Minister Alfaro, adding that products such as roasted or decaffeinated coffee, cane sugar, frozen fish and tuna, reflected important export figures.
This is the first official visit of a South Korean official to Panama in thirteen years. The previous one was that of the then president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, in 2010.
Panama and South Korea have 60 years of diplomatic relations with a positive balance in the diplomatic, commercial and cooperation spheres. Both countries have signed 9 agreements in force and 2 in projects. Exchanges between officials from the two countries have been frequent and of a very high level.
In Panama there are 20 South Korean companies operating and there are seven groups attached to the Special Regime of Headquarters of Multinational Companies (SEM), creating job opportunities and contributing to infrastructure and investment.
In addition, South Korean companies have a shareholding in Minera Panama and the natural gas plant that is being built in Colón, while the HPH Joint Venture consortium, composed of Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Posco E&C, builds Metro Line 3 to Panama West. This same group will build the tunnel that will connect Line 3 with Albrook below the Panama Canal.
Samsung will also be a sponsor of the Robotics Olympics to be held in Panama next November.
The Prime Minister of South Korea and his delegation will visit the Canal, the works of the third line of the Metro – currently the largest public project in Panama – and the concrete project in Vacamonte, where Korean companies participate.
The second deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea, Lee Do-Hoon; and the South Korean ambassador to Panama, Jeong Jin-kyu, participated in the South Korean delegation.