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17:00, 14-Jul-2017
Panama looks to get Canal in China's Belt & Road initiative
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By CGTN's Dialogue
A month after formally establishing diplomatic relations with China, Panama is already looking at further areas of cooperation, from Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative to banking.
“We’re looking forward to start with the initiative in Belt and Road,” Any Lam Chong Leon, chief representative of the Panama-China Trade Development Office, told CGTN’s Dialogue.
“We do know there is a maritime road inside the Belt and Road initiative and we would like… to use the Panama Canal in the maritime services,” she said.
The Belt and Road initiative, announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to improve trade links across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East but has also sparked interest from Latin America.
According to Any, China is the second largest user of the Canal and the largest goods supplier to the Colón Free Trade Zone, where many products are distributed to other Latin American countries.
Panama now hopes its new partner will also send financial services its way. Bank of China has been established there since 1994 “and we welcome all Chinese banking… to invest abroad and look forward to (them) establishing in Panama,” said Any, adding that they were already in talks with several banks.
Dialogue with Yang Rui is a 30-minute current affairs talk show on CGTN. It airs daily at 7.30 p.m. BJT (1130GMT), with rebroadcasts at 3.30 a.m. (1930GMT) and 11.30 a.m. (0330GMT).