Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli is set to arrive in Colombia on Tuesday on an official state visit to promote investment in his country and participate in the Latin American World Economic Forum (WEF) in Cartagena.
The president announced that he will “invite entrepreneurs, who pay taxes, create jobs and earn money, to invest in Panama,” according to El Pais.
Martinelli will promote Panama as a “nation with a strong economy which is open to investments.”
“Panama’s doors are wide open,” he added.
The three-day Colombian visit begins in Medellin, where Martinelli will meet with directors of the water and energy company, Empresas Publicas de Medellin.
After the Antioquian capital, the president will head to Bogota to attend the Business Presidents’ Forum.
The tour will end up in Cartagena for the Latin American WEF, where topics such as economic outlook, social investment, crime fighting and intra-regional trade will be on the table.
In Cartagena President Martinelli will hold meetings with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Guatemala’s Alvaro Colom.
The Panamanian leader will also meet with representatives of major multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Dell, General Electric, Cisco Systems, Smart Technology and British Telecom.
Senior U.S State Department official Arturo Valenzuela is attending the WEF forum in Cartagena, along with “400 of the most prominent leaders from Latin America and other parts of the world,” according to the event’s website.
President Alvaro Uribe arranged meetings with a number of investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January to try to persuade them to attend the forum in Cartagena.