President Juan Carlos Varela of Panama met with President Danilo Medina yesterday, Wednesday 18 November 2015, as part of his two-day visit to the Dominican Republic. Both Presidents agreed that their priority is the social agenda. The meeting also focused on safety, trade, tourism, education, energy and infrastructure. Vice President Margarita Cedeno, Foreign Relations Minister Andres Navarro and visiting deputy minister Luis Miguel Hincapie of Panama were also at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace.
The Dominican Presidency reported that President Varela reiterated his country’s commitment to the migration and security information agreement signed in Panama on 1 September 2015 whereby both countries agreed to continue working jointly for security and the fight against organized transnational crime. During the visit to Santo Domingo, a treaty for reciprocal legal assistance was signed, establishing reciprocal mechanisms to facilitate extradition of criminals.
Both countries also committed to work to strengthen tourism cooperation in the areas of legislation, planning, regulation and training and technical cooperation for responsible and sustainable tourism.
During a visit to the National Congress, President Varela said when he returns to Panama he would sign a decree to facilitate Dominican travel to Panama.
He said the objective was to increase the trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Varela added that he planned to make the immigration policy more flexible for greater integration and exchange between Panama and the Dominican Republic.
During his address to Congress, Valera reminded the legislators present that their positions were only temporary and that public officials should serve with transparency and responsibility. He said that personally, he wants to leave his country more democratic and with greater separation of powers. Varela added that he was visiting the Dominican Republic in search of new ideas that will improve his country.
President Varela stressed that the Dominican Republic’s development in the areas of tourism, social policies and infrastructure has become an example for other nations to follow. He said that he had been introduced to the Dominican extended public school day program and the 911 Emergency System, and had learned more about President Medina’s “surprise visits” in support of small-scale producers in rural areas.
Varela congratulated the Dominican government on the work it has carried out towards diversifying the energy matrix and reducing dependency on petrol. He recognized the progress represented by the AES Natural Gas Plant in Punta Caucedo, saying it was a model for the construction of a natural gas plant in Panama.
The Panamanian president also learned about the Medina administration’s housing development projects and the new approach to housing policy, based on mixed public and private trusts, for the development of integrated urban development mega projects, in order to help tackle the housing shortage, like the “Juan Bosch City” project that he visited.
President Varela highlighted his government’s interest in increasing trade between both countries. He mentioned the agreement for a strategic alliance between the Panama Free Zones Association and the National Council of Export Free Zones and Dominican Association of Free Zones, signed in January 2014.
He commented that relationships between Panama and the DR, which have always been good, have been further strengthened with the admission of the Dominican Republic to the Central American Integrated System (SICA) in 2013.
Both Presidents expressed their interest in expanding the Partial Scope Agreement, the preferential trade agreement between both countries that dates back to 2003. Trade between both countries is worth more than US$118 million.
http://presidencia.gob.do/noticias/republica-dominicana-y-panama-reafirman-compromisos-de-cooperacion-y-hermandad
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/republica-dominicana-y-panama-firman-acuerdos-de-extradicion-y-seguridad-yj1913010
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2015/11/19/presidentes-panama-firman-acuerdos
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2015/11/18/presidente-panama-dice-danilo-medina-modelo-estadista-latinoamericano-y-seguridad-yj1913010