Panama and Japan want to identify joint green investment projects

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Post-pandemic economic growth will depend on the green economy and digital transformation, so Japan and Panama want to identify joint projects in those sectors to boost bilateral economic ties.

“We have not yet identified specific projects or businesses” in the green economy and digital transformation, “so we want to continue the conversation,” said Japan’s Foreign Ministry press secretary, Yoshida Tomoyuki.

Tomoyuki gave a press conference on Sunday at the end of a visit to Panama by Japan’s Foreign Minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, who met with Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo and Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes.

Both governments announced that they agreed to “strengthen commercial relations” between Panama and Japan, a country that is one of the main users of the inter-oceanic Canal, including the financing of the construction of line 3 of the Panamanian capital’s aubway.

“Both countries are still in discussion to find out which investments are the most interesting. Everything will depend on the financial needs and also on the type of project,” said Tomoyuki, who highlighted that “Panama has a very strong awareness of the importance of climate change, with the goal of negative carbon and a green economy.”

The Panamanian government informed that President Cortizo proposed that Panama and Japan appoint a team “to study the possibility of increasing exports and strengthening investments,” which should be formed before a tour to Japan organized by the Panamanian Foreign Ministry for next year.

Foreign Minister Mouynes ratified during her meeting this Sunday with Motegi “the attractiveness of Panama for foreign investment, the commitment with the strengthening of the economy and the protection of the environment, and the advantages of the country for its strategic positioning and its stability, with the great contribution of the interoceanic canal,” indicated an official communiqué.

Motegi arrived in Panama on Saturday from Guatemala, the first stop on a tour that will now take him to Cuba and Jamaica, with the objective of “consolidating” economic ties with Central America and the Caribbean.