Panama trade mission begins Sunday
(newsherald.com) The Panama Canal expansion project is scheduled for completion in 2014, and its impact will be felt far beyond the small Central American country that operates and maintains the waterway.
Roger Miller, Florida's Great Northwest project director, thinks Port Panama City could be one of the beneficiaries of the expansion, with larger Asian super freighters able to navigate through the waterway and unload goods onto smaller transfer ships bound for American ports.
"What we see for the port of Panama City is tremendous trade opportunities," Miller said Friday.
Miller will be visiting the Panama Canal on Tuesday as part of FGNW's 2009 Panama trade mission.
Port Panama City executive director Wayne Stubbs is among the trade mission's 21-member delegation and is scheduled to arrive in Panama on Sunday.
Other area business leaders on the trip include Magnum Capital chairman Bob Blackerby, Resource Realty Group owner Neil Jones and Jackson County Economic Development Council executive director Bill Stanton.
The Destin-based economic development organization first announced the Panama trade mission in May 2008, with part of it funded through Enterprise Florida's International Business Development grant.
The trip originally was scheduled for November 2008 but was pushed back to January 2009 at the request of Panamanian officials.
FGNW spokeswoman Cristie Kedroski said there will be two tracks, one for "Gold Key" business-to-business appointments and the other for the general delegation, on the trade mission.
The trip's itinerary includes a Monday tour of shipping company J.Cain & Co. and meetings with company officials and a trip to the Col?n Free Zone, a distribution center at the Atlantic gateway to the Panama Canal that primarily is dedicated to the re-exporting of merchandise into Latin America and the Caribbean.
On Tuesday, general delegate tours are scheduled for the Panama Ports Company and the Panama Canal, with plans to attend an evening dinner hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Panama.
Miller said there would flexibility on the trade mission for delegates who wish to schedule their own appointments with Panamanian business and industry officials.
Stubbs said he planned to meet with a couple of the port's customers while in Panama, including Miami-based shipping company Seaboard Marine's Panama manager.
Seaboard Marine began delivering containerized cargo from Port Panama City to Chile and Peru, via the Panama Canal, in 2008.
On average, one ship a month departs from Port Panama City and arrives in Cristobal, Panama, Stubbs said in November 2008.
Miller said there would be time for follow up appointments for any trade mission delegates who wished to meet with business contacts.
Panama was Florida's 13th-largest export market in 2007, but Miller acknowledged that Northwest Florida probably lagged behind other parts of state in regards to international trade.
"Right now, we're probably not as big a player on the international side," Miller said.
He and Kedroski said they were hopeful the trip would provide regional business and economic development leaders more exposure to international trade.
