China and Panama will advance next week in the feasibility study of the FTA negotiations

China and Panama will advance this week in the 

feasibility study of the FTA negotiations

From 6 to 9 March, the second technical work meeting will be held in Panama for the feasibility study prior to the negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the People's Republic of China and Panama. This was reported by Jian Wang, economic and commercial attaché of the Embassy of China in Panama.

Wang, participated this Thursday, March 1 in the Second National Agricultural Symposium, a joint initiative between the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) and the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) within the framework of Expocomer 2018.

The joint feasibility study is expected to be completed and then the official negotiation of the FTA will begin in the middle of this year.

Photo by Expocomer 

This study arises as a commitment of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between both Governments, by the Ministers of Commerce, on November 17, 2017, within the framework of an official visit by the President, Juan Carlos Varela, to China. 

Depending on the progress of the work may be June and July and we will accelerate the entire negotiation process ", 

Wang believes that this agreement will benefit final consumers and producers in China and Panama. Approach to negotiate From January 15 to 17, 2018, the first working meeting of the joint feasibility study of the FTA was held in Beijing, China. On that occasion, a Panamanian delegation traveled to China, led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Néstor González. 

The Panamanian official said that next week a technical team from the People's Republic of China will arrive in Panama to follow up on the first meeting held in January of this year. 

They are technical work tables, in which price information is exchanged, product potential, special regimes of both countries, industrial protection, among others ", 

It clarifies that a free trade agreement not only sees the exchange of goods, but also involves issues such as: public procurement, legal security, investment attraction and others. 

It is important to have these meetings to know a little more about how the Chinese and Panamanian economy is composed ", 

The feasibility study is a requirement that China asks to start a negotiation of an FTA.