President Lee Myung-bak, left, shakes hands with Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli after their summit talks at the presidential office in Panama City, Monday. They signed an agreement on bilateral economic cooperation. / Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok |
By Na Jeong-ju
Korea Times correspondent
PANAMA CITY ― South Korea is seeking to boost its partnership with Panama, a small Central American country that has strong ties with the United States, politically and economically, and explore the possibility of signing free trade agreements with regional players with the nation's help.
At a summit here Monday (local time), President Lee Myung-bak and his Panamanian counterpart, Ricardo Martinelli, agreed to cooperate closely to extend Korea's economic and investment relations with Central American countries.
Under the agreement, the two countries will discuss the possibility of Korea's FTAs with some members of the Central American Integration System (SICA), an organization promoting cooperation among Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.
Lee held a group summit with the leaders of the SICA nations Tuesday in Panama City to discuss the plan and other ways to enhance economic and cultural ties. Afterwards, he intends to hold a series of bilateral talks with them.
SICA provides virtually untapped markets for Korean firms as annual trade reached $6.68 billion in 2009. Korea's exports to the region stood at $5.3 billion last year, only 1.45 percent of its total exports.
President Lee arrived in Panama earlier on Monday after a two-day visit to Toronto, Canada, where he co-chaired the Group of 20 Summit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper as host of the next meeting of the world's 20 wealthiest countries.
Lee became the first South Korean leader to visit Panama since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1962. It was also Lee's first trip to Central America since his inauguration in early 2008.
During Monday's summit, Lee and Martinelli also agreed to work for an early signing of a bilateral treaty to avoid double taxation. The treaty will be crucial to increase trade and investment between the two countries, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The Panamanian leader criticized North Korea for its sinking of the South Korean Navy vessel Cheonan in March, expressing full support for Seoul's efforts to seek international action against Pyongyang.
Korea and Panama also shared a common understanding on encouraging exchange in the areas of natural resources, construction, information technology and cultural interaction, according to the presidential office.
Following the summit, Lee visited the tourist center of the Panama Canal, the 77 kilometer-long waterway that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade.
Martinelli, 58, a U.S.-educated free-market advocate, served as chairman of the Panama Canal's board of directors and minister of canal affairs in the early 2000s.
Through Lee's visit, South Korea is seeking to strengthen relations with Central American nations by initiating programs aimed at sharing its economic growth experience and offering financial assistance for their economic development.
In an interview with La Prensa, a Panamanian newspaper, published Monday, Lee praised Panama on its vision of becoming a world-class commercial and financial center, saying Central America has huge growth potential and will provide new markets for emerging economies.
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