Panamanian President Martín Torrijos arrived in Costa Rica yesterday to sign a free-trade agreement between his country and Costa Rica and attend celebrations of the 20 th anniversary of the Esquipulas peace accords signed between Central American countries in 1987.
The free-trade agreement, signed by Torrijos and his Costa Rican counterpart Oscar Arias last night in San José, was agreed upon in June after nine rounds of negotiations (TT, June 29).
The agreement will allow 90% of Costa Rican products to enter its southern neighbor tariff-free, while the other 10% will be exempted from taxes for five to 17 years.
During 2006, Costa Rica exported $268 million worth of goods to Panama and imported $162.7 million worth of goods from that country.
Torrijos traveled here with his First Vice-President and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis, Trade and Industry Minister Alejandro Ferrer, Agricultural Development Minister Guillermo Salazar and a group of Panamanian business leaders.
Today, the Panamanian President plans to attend a summit to celebrate the anniversary of a peace accord orchestrated by Arias, who later won a Nobel Peace Prize for this effort, which ended years of military conflict in Central America. The Presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are also scheduled to attend (TT, Aug.3).
Notably absent will be Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, one of the signers of the Esquipulas agreement 20 years ago. He said he could not attend because he had plans to meet with Brazilian President Inácio Lula Da Silva.
The summit was organized by the Arias Foundation for Peace and Progress and will touch on challenges facing the region today including crime, drug trafficking, education and trade.
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