Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
Panama Canal head expects fewer China, U.S. ships if trade war escalates.
Fewer ships from China and the United States could use the Panama Canal if trade tensions escalate between the two economic giants, but the dip could be offset by grain exports from north Brazil, the head of the organization that operates the waterway said.
The canal, which cuts through Panama creating an essential shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is a major source of revenue for the central American country.
“Most cargoes passing through the Panama Canal come from or go to the United States and China,” Panama Canal Authority chief Jorge Quijano told Reuters late on Thursday. “Tensions between them could ultimately have an impact on the amount of loadings using the waterway in any direction.”
Source: Reuters
Oscars: Panama Selects ‘Ruben Blades Is Not My Name’ for Foreign-Language Category.
The Panamanian Academy of Film Arts and Sciences has chosen Abner Benaim’s documentary Ruben Blades Is Not My Name as the country’s bid for the Oscars in the foreign-language category.
The film follows actor and multiple Grammy award winner Ruben Blades (Fear the Walking Dead) through several of his concerts around the world, as well as in Panama City and Manhattan, N.Y., delivering an intimate portrait of Panama’s most popular star, who also sat as a minister of tourism, and ran for president in 1994. Earlier this year, Blades, a longtime political activist who holds a master’s degree in international law from Harvard, hinted at possibly running again in 2019.
Source: Hollywood Reporterf
Cuba’s ‘Si Yo Puedo’ Helps Panama Cut Illiteracy in Half.
Cuba’s internationally recognized literacy program, Yo si Puedo, has helped Panama reduce its illiteracy rate by half over the past 11 years.
In 2010, Panama’s comptroller demographic census revealed that a total of 148,747 people were illiterate. However, 2018 statistics compiled by the Ministry of Social Development, or Mides, show that the total number of illiterate persons has been reduced to 74,080.
Source: TeleSur
Four Reasons Why China’s Partnership With Panama Will Strengthen The Economy
The news in Panama these days is largely focused on two main topics: the 2019 Panamanian presidential election, and China. It’s not a coincidence, either. The two topics have a lot to do with each other, and for good reason.
1. Increased Trade:
Trade between Panama and China isn’t new, but it has always been tempered by Panama’s trade relationships with other countries, and diplomatic restraints due to the Taiwan connection. With a new diplomatic relationship comes new trade deals, and that means lots of business for the logistics, import, and export markets in Panama. Panama can now import with better prices from China, and increase exports to the Chinese market, which will give them better leverage for future export deals with other nations.
Source: International Relocation Firm Blog
