BRIEFS. business

Panama’s exports grows by almost 10 percent

As of the end of September, the country's exports totaled $957 million, 9.7 percent more than the same period last year, according to figures from the General Accounting Office.

The United States, historically the most important market for Panamanian exports, accounted for more than a third of the export market, with goods valued at $350 million headed to that country.

The Netherlands received the second-largest amount of local goods, with exports to that country totaling $116 million. This amount is so high because the Netherlands has many of the ports used by exporters to send goods to other parts of Europe.

The United Kingdom received $60 million worth of goods, followed by Spain ($52 million) and Costa Rica ($49.8 million).

Ironically, the countries with which Panama does not have a free trade agreement in place constituted the greatest consumers of goods produced here.

It does have agreements with Taiwan and El Salvador, which ranked 8th and 19th on the list respectively. Singapore, another country with which Panama has an agreement in place, did not receive any exports.

Nevertheless, the agreement with Singapore has generated a number of investments in Panama, including a container port, a center for aircraft repair and a technology company.