The following is excerpted from the 11 March 2011 edition of "globeandmail.com".

It’s been a year and a half since Canada and Panama signed a free-trade agreement that creates important opportunities for Canadian producers. Parliament should ratify it.

Panama may have a small economy, but it thinks big. During the past three years, a bad time for most of the world’s economies, Panamanian output grew, on average, by a robust 5 per cent a year. In the previous five-year period, Panama had the fastest growth of any Latin American country, with the real value of national production increasing by an average of more than 9 per cent annually.

Even more important, Panama is a country with a plan. Its goal is to become the world’s third great logistics centre, after Hong Kong and Singapore, by focusing on three pillars: advanced logistics, a unique commercial centre, and a strong banking system. ...

This article is available in its entirety on the Globe and Mail website at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/rethinking-trade-with-panama/article1937629/

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