BRIEFS. national

Free trade agreement signed with guatemala

After nine rounds of negotiations, the minister of Comercio e Industrias de Panamá (MICI), Alejandro Ferrer, and the minister of Economía de Guatemala, José Carlos García, signed a free trade agreement.

The treaty will take effect as soon as it is ratified by the legislatures of both nations. Sources at the MICI do not know exactly when Panama's Asamblea Nacional will vote on the document. In an official communication distributed yesterday, Ferrer noted that more than 93 percent of the products Panama exports to Guatemala will be duty free.

Last year, commercial transactions between Panama and Guatemal rose to $120 million, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year.