The following is excerpted from the today’s news release by DFAIT.

The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, and Panama’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Roberto Henríquez, today signed the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement and parallel agreements on labour cooperation and the environment. The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, witnessed the signing ceremony.

“Panama is a dynamic, innovative economy,” said Minister Van Loan….

The Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement will lower tariffs on goods and remove other trade barriers to benefit a broad range of sectors, creating new opportunities for the Canadian construction, manufacturing and agriculture industries.

The Free Trade Agreement will also expand market access for Canadian service providers in areas such as information and communication technology, and engineering, environmental, energy and financial services. Investment provisions in the Free Trade Agreement provide greater protection for Canadian investments in Panama and will ensure greater transparency and security for Canadian investors. In addition, the Agreement will secure access to the government procurement market, including for the $5.4-billion expansion of the Panama Canal and other infrastructure projects.

The parallel agreement on the environment requires both parties to ensure high levels of environmental protection and the effective enforcement of their domestic environmental laws while encouraging trade and investment….

The Labour Cooperation Agreement commits Canada and Panama to respect the core labour standards set out by the International Labour Organization….

In recent years, Panama’s economy has grown at a rate comparable to the world’s fastest-growing economies, even in the face of the global economic downturn. Canadian merchandise exports to Panama totalled $91.4 million in 2009, a 52-percent increase since 2005….