Peru, Panama sign free trade agreement
  

• Peru's Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Eduardo Ferreyros. Photo: ANDINA/Norman Cordova

• Lima, May 26 (ANDINA). The governments of Peru and Panama signed a free trade agreement (FTA) on Wednesday in the Panamanian capital to intensify investments and bilateral trade of goods and services.

  The FTA was signed by Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Eduardo Ferreyros and by his Panamanian counterpart Roberto Henriquez in the presence of representatives of the shipping, trade, industrial and agro-export sectors.

  Ferreyros recalled that a meeting between Presidents Alan Garcia and Ricardo Martinelli confirmed their political will to give a major boost to the FTA.

  He said that the official text was “very well negotiated” by both “first-class” negotiation teams, and that it will provide special benefits for small enterprises in both countries.

  For his part, Henriquez pointed out that Peru is one the countries with the highest economic growth rates in Latin America. “It has an economic and social vision very similar to the one of Panama, which creates a great opportunity to unite our economies and productive sectors.”