“The emerging markets are in Latin America, and the United Kingdom, especially London, wants to trade with them and that is the reason why I have been visiting Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico,” the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Roger Gifford said during his visit to Panama.
Panama was a mid-stop in his tour of Latin America to promote London as an international finance centre and as a international arbitration and dispute resolution centre.
“Panama is making a great effort to become part of the Pacific Alliance and a strong possibility exists that will happen soon if the negotiations to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Mexico continue,” said Gifford. The UK is has invested nearly $8bn in Panama with 26 companies here.
London has an unrivalled maritime offering and those countries are areas of potential partnerships, in particular because of their strong maritime activity, said Clarkson managing director Jeffrey Evans, who was accompanying Mayor Gifford.
“We have a great expertise in ports and we can complement services in the financial sector, law firms and shipping, to offer to the countries we have visited,” said Gifford. Most shipping insurance firms tend to come back to London because of “its expertise,” he said pointing out that UK business is attracted by the stability, harmony and long-term strategy of the Pacific Alliance- which was formed in June 2012 by Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
