The trade agreements signed by Panama with several nations could serve as a platform for new business for the CFZ.
The CFZ wants make a u turn in the way it does business but to do so it must make adjustments so that it not only receives goods but also gives them an added value.
This was explained Luis Germán Gómez, president of the Association of Users of the Colon Free Zone.
Venezuela's debt for $1.1 billion and the loss of 80% of the footwear market in Colombia has led to the closure of businesses and the loss of thousand jobs.
Added to this is a 20% decrease in sales from the Free Zone, as two of its main markets have shrunk by 50% for some companies and up to 80% for items such as shoes.
Panamaamerica reports that "the complicated situation has led the guild to ask the Panamanian government for immediate action to halt the decline of their business, including retaliatory actions with Colombia, a more aggressive plan to collect the debt from Venezuela, reduced Entry fee for containers as well as updating the laws for this zone in order to make it more competitive. "
For two weeks the national commission will be examining the validity of the debt documented as owed by Venezuelan businessmen to Panama exporters.
Prensa.com reports: "... the parties have agreed that Venezuela will send the records of more than 600 entrepreneurs who trade with the Colon Free Zone (CFZ), and then compare them with the data belonging to users of the Panamanian zone".
On August 12th talks will start on the debt held by Venezuelan companies with exporters from the Colon Free Zone.
According to Germán Gómez, president of the Association of Users of the CFZ, the goal is to specify how much of that debt corresponds to the National Administration Committee (Cadivi), who provides currency in Venezuela under the exchange control which has been in force in this country for more than a decade.
The Colon Free Zone will have to wait for the formation of a bilateral commission to address the method of payment of the $800 million owed to them.
That fact that the commission has not yet been formed means that it is almost impossible that the payment will be made immediately proclaimed the Panamanian leader Ricardo Martinelli after his visit to Venezuela.
Following the meeting of President Martinelli with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, doubts remain about when the debt will be settled.
It's been two weeks since the Panamanian president, Ricardo Martinelli, visited his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, in order to find a solution to the problem of the debt owed by Venezuelan entrepreneurs to the Colon Free Zone (CFZ).
Colombia will continue to apply extra tariffs on re-exports coming from the CFZ for products which do not have certificates of origin and value-added processing.
After signing the agreement with Colombia, "We do not know how the [issue with] the CFZ ended up. There is a vacuum of information that we do not understand and I fear the worst. The silence, can be taken as a case of "no news is bad news", said Surse Pierpoint, president of the Association of Users of the Colon Free Zone.
Following the signing of the trade agreement, the government of Panama has not provided information about Colombia's treatment of the exports from the Colon Free Zone.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia said that "the Colombian industry is the net winner" of this FTA, something that the Association of Users of the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) expressed its discontent over due to lack of information from the Panamanian authorities.
The contentious issue of the Colon Free Zone has been settled by agreeing to "certain provisions to regulate traffic of goods from third countries between the two nations."
From a press release by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Panama (ICIM):
The round of negotiations for the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Colombia held from 28 to 31 May 2013 culminated in the early morning hours of Saturday June 1 in the City of Panama, allowing the closure of all outstanding issues.
Both nations failed to resolve issues such as the treatment of products in the Colon Free Zone, which means there will probably have to be an eighth round of negotiations.
"... The round that lasted for four days, dealt with technical issues such as trade and rules of origin procedures, access to markets for agricultural lists and issues related to customs administration and trade facilitation", reports Prensa.com.
Although the subject of the Colon Free Zone remains an obstacle, next Tuesday will see the start of the seventh round of negotiations on the free trade agreement between the two countries.
Panama's interest in joining the Pacific Alliance forces it to close a FTA with each of its members, including Colombia.
After the sixth round of negotiations, held in Colombia in March, the Colombian delegation welcomed the progress on customs cooperation and mutual assistance, but the issue of the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) continued without an agreement between both parties.
The amount Colombia imposes as tariffs on products from the Colon Free Zone exceeds that authorized by the World Trade Organization.
Ricardo Quijano, Minister of Commerce and Industry in Panama, said he understands that Colombia can place this type tax on products, but the complaint is that there is a limit imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the tariff should be lower.
Studies are being carried out on the viability of a Japanese loan to finance a railway connecting the western zone with the Panamanian capital.
From a press release issued by the Presidency of Panama:
The President of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli received, on the morning of May 2, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Fumio Kishida, who desribed the progress that Panama has made in terms of the economy and the Canal expansion, a very important issue for Japan which is already one of the 4 most frequent users of the waterway.
The Colon Free Zone has invited bids for road sweeping, collection and disposal of solid waste.
The service includes the supply of all materials, tools and
instruments, transportation, fuel, equipment, labor and any
other resources needed to carry out the following work:
Sweeping, cleaning streets, sidewalks and general areas, collection and disposal of solid waste currently generated in all sectors of the Colon Free Zone including both Colon (Casco Viejo and the Corridor area) as well as the areas of France Field, CocoSolito, José Dominador Bazan (Davis) (area plans attached), as well as all of the waste collection, street sweeping and disposal generated by future developments in new areas of the Colon Free Zone.
Panama's National Assembly has repealed Act 72 which authorizes the sale of land in the CFZ, and President Martinelli has signed the enactment.
A statement from the Presidency reads:
On Sunday October 28 President Ricardo Martinelli sanctioned, a ruling repealing Act 72. With this act the national government has fulfilled its commitment to the people wanting the repeal.
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