From November 14 to 18, 2022, the Miami Trade Mission – Connecting with Panama was held, organized by AmCham Panamá and PROPANAMÁ with the participation of 12 private sector representatives and 9 public sector representatives. The Panamanian delegation held meetings and guided visits to explore new business opportunities, commercial contacts and investments for Panama, and to continue strengthening trade ties between Panama and the United States.

On the first day, participants met with the manager of International Investments for Latin America and the Caribbean at Enterprise Florida Inc., Carlos Guerra, who presented an overview of trade, exports and imports between Miami-Dade County and Florida and Latin America and the Caribbean. They then visited the facilities of FedEx Express; toured the Alan B. Levan Center of Innovation, a public-private partnership between Nova Southeastern University and Broward County that connects the innovation ecosystem of South Florida; and ended at the offices of Ricoh LatAm, where they learned about its products for the digital transformation of organizations.

On the second day, the delegation met with the president of the World Trade Center, Iván Barrios, who expressed his wish to continue promoting trade between Panama and the State of Florida. During the meeting, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between PROPANAMÁ and The Latin Chamber of Commerce of the United States (CAMACOL). The delegation also met with Eric Olafson, director of Global Trade and Business Development at the Port of Miami, to visit the cargo and cruise terminals, and closed the day at the Miami-Dade County headquarters with Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert, executive director of the International Trade Consortium.

On the last day, participants were received at the VISA Innovation Center by Eduardo Coello, president for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Ramiro León, manager of the center, and took part in the “Corporate Innovation Workshop & StartUp Showcase” on the campus of the University of Miami Business School, led by Susane Amat, CEO and founder of Venture Hive.

As part of the mission, the “Doing Business in Panama” event was held, with representatives of the Government of Panama — the minister counselor for Private Investment Facilitation, José Alejandro Rojas; the general administrator of PROPANAMÁ, Carmen Gisela Vergara; the Investment advisor of the Panama Maritime Authority, Javier Navarrete, and the director of Government and Industry Relations of Promtur, Leidys Murillo — and, for the private sector, Doriana Hun, president of AmCham Panamá and country manager of Chevron Panamá; Claudia Kattan-Jordan, vice president for Central America and Panama at Crowley Marítimo, and Esteban Iriarte, executive vice president and CEO of Millicom.