In the past 20 years intraregional trade grew at a rate of 12% per year, indicating an opportunity to deepen integration by finally fully adopting the customs union.
However, experts believe that Central America still faces challenges, specifically in customs matters.
"Exports to Central America have grown over the past 20 years at a rate of 50% more than exports to the rest of the world." "...at an average of 12% annually, and our exports to the world have grown at an average of 8% annually. This underlines the importance of intraregional trade dynamics in this space of Central American integration," said Hugo Beteta, CEO of the subregional site of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Mexico.
Exporters can find documents such as daily checking and re-entry, affidavits, bond insurance, exporter update codes, among others.
From a press release issued by the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT):
With the aim of providing a query tool which facilitates obtaining documents required by exporters the VUPE-OPA Virtual Library, also known as e-Docs has been implemented.
India's ambassador in Panama indicated that they aim to triple the current trade figures between the two countries within four years.
India wants to promote investment in various sectors of Panama’s economy, seeing this country as a platform for expansion into Latin America for their companies and products.
"India's investments will be directed to the banking sector, the maritime business and the multimodal center of the Colon Free Zone (CFZ), and will be backed by a free trade agreement, that's India’s goal with Panama," said Indian ambassador Yogeshwar Varma, to Prensa.com.