Video: Panama 2016 – Panama's Role as a Bridge Nation

Speakers:

Welcoming Remarks (en español)

• Ragnhild Melzi, Vice President, Public Policy Programs and Corporate Relations, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

Conversation – Panama’s Role as a Bridge Nation (in English, starting at 11:58)

• John D. Feeley, U.S. Ambassador to Panama
• Emanuel Arturo González-Revilla, Panamanian Ambassador to the U.S.
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (moderator)

Opening AS/COA Latin American Cities Conference in Panama City, AS/COA's Ragnhild Melzi said the country's logistics, energy, and finance sectors are attracting foreign investors and that the expanded Panama Canal creates the potential for Panama to become a global commerce hub along the lined of Singapore and or Holland.

In the following panel, the Panamanian and U.S. ambassadors talked about how the country's current government is working to improve in key areas in order to reach goals such as government transparency and the expansion of U.S. ports to receive Neopanamax ships.