H.E. Ambassador Willys Delvalle.
H.E. Willys Delvalle, Ambassador of the Republic of Panama, proudly welcomed all who came to congratulate him on his country’s 113th Independence Day.
The venue chosen for the celebration was the Marriott Hotel in The Hague where guests enjoyed the warmth of Panama. Many head of missions and diplomats from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East cheered Ambassador Delvalle after his speech on Panama’s growing economy and foreign direct investments.
Panama a solid place for foreign investment
Ambassador Willys Delvalle has many reasons to be proud. Panama is doing economically well, taking advantage of its extraordinary geographical location. Ambassador Delvalle then went on to give an overview of his beloved Panama’s achievements; he started by recounting how centuries ago Panama was used as a logistical hub by the Spain, transporting merchandise from the West coast of South America to Europe.
“Today” Delvalle states, “our country has developed a strategy of Panama as a “Worldwide Logistic Hub”, and in this regard, we have invested in the construction of infrastructure for ports, airports and highways, logistics free zones in both coasts and of course the expanded Panama Canal offering the best practices in the sector.”
Panama envisages offering new business within the expanded Canal. This will include: commercial activities that will give added value to the Canal route with the construction of Roll-on Roll-off terminal, logistic parks, pipelines, ship repair industry, Top-off operations, power generation, LNG terminal, and the construction of a container terminal to increase the capacity in the Pacific by 5.3 million TEUs with full connectivity to the trans-isthmian railroad.
The Panama Canal has this year received a rating of “A” from various international institutions and the International Maritime Organization has recognized that the enlargement of the Canal will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.
For environmental purposes the country is preparing to host the International Center for the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD = PLUS), inviting the international community to sign the Agreement and be part of this key initiative of the global climate agenda.
“Panama has a flourishing economy according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), expected to remain strong and remain as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an estimated increase of 5.2% in 2016 and 5.8% in 2017. Panama’s greatest asset is her people; each Panamanian daily takes pride in his work, traditions, cultural events, dance, art, music and gastronomy.
We like to share with you that Panama is preparing itself to become the Ibero-American Capital of Culture in 2019 and that same year host the World Youth Day with over 1 million attending.”
Ambassador Willys Delvalle concluded his address by observing, “as we today, 1st November 2016 celebrate our 113th anniversary of Independence, we would like to invite you to share in something that is genuinely Panamanian, images of our country and a taste of our typical flavours. Thank you all for coming.”
A delicious comfort Panamanian’s food was served generously, the music and the welcoming atmosphere was remarkable, people stayed until the very end; congratulations to Armonia Chang de Belchieur, Minister Counsellor and the team of the Panamanian Embassy, a great event.
