In the usual weekly press conference, the president said that in his inauguration speech on July 1, his government is accelerating these efforts and an example of this was the recent official visit to Brazil by the Isthmus foreign minister, Javier Martínez Acha.
“I hope and trust, with the support of friendly countries and under the leadership of Brazil, which has opened that door, that helping hand, we will be partners of the Common Market of the South,” he stressed.
For Mulino, the entry of the Central American nation into that integration mechanism will give the country a dimension in its relationship with what analysts estimate is the fifth largest economy in the world.
In that sense, he specified that the member nations of Mercosur, like other neighbors among them Costa Rica, are interested in the geographic position of Panama.
He explained that for the countries of the commercial block, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay and the adhesion of Bolivia, being in Panama represents a great advantage for exporting to other markets with facilities that not all have.
Among other potentialities, he cited the Panama Canal, the ports and a railroad that moves goods between the two oceans, in addition to future logistics projects.
The head of State referred in particular to the possibilities that open up for cooperation with Brazil, after the chancellor concluded with the minister of Commerce and Industry Julio Molto; and the Minister of Agricultural Development, Roberto Linares; a three-day stay in the South American giant.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama, to which Prensa Latina had access, classifies this official visit to Brazil as a strategic tour, as a result of which it confirmed that the country will acquire the status of Associate State to Mercosur at the next Summit of Presidents of the bloc.
This progress, the report adds, establishes as a priority the finalization of a trade agreement and the formalization of it before the Latin American Integration Association (Aladi), no later than December 2024.
The agreement will focus on the promotion of economic and commercial cooperation, with emphasis on areas such as services and investments, which will allow a gradual and beneficial integration for all parties involved.
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