US, Panama plan final talks on free-trade deal

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - After two years of talks, Panama and the United States are hoping to wrap up a free trade agreement at a new set of negotiations likely later this month, the two governments said this week.
Wednesday, October 5, 2005; 4:27 PM

"The United States and Panama are looking at our schedules to see if we can set a final round (of talks) some time during the second half of October," Neena Moorjani of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Panama, said on Wednesday.

Panama said on Tuesday that U.S. President George W. Bush would visit as part of a Latin American tour in November, but it was unclear if the trip was related to the free trade talks,

The talks started in 2003 but have snagged on Panamanian concerns that open access to its agricultural markets could hit farmers.

U.S. business is also pushing for a strong government procurement package that would give it a fair shot at anticipated expansion work on the Panama Canal.

Alejandro Ferrer, the Panamanian trade minister, said in a statement that a new round of talks later this month "is the right moment for Panama."

The rest of Central America and the Dominican Republic have signed a trade pact with United States known as CAFTA, but tiny Panama stayed out of that deal.

Its economy, like that of the United States, is predominantly service-based, and its government believes it can gain greater advantages through a bilateral deal.