On April 17th, 2006, Mr. Satoru Wakabayashi, Vice President and Chairperson of Exhibition, Conference Committee of the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan (SCAJ) paid a visit to H.E. Dr. Alfredo Martiz, Ambassador of Panama to Japan. The objectives of the meeting was to exchange opinions and analyze the possible participation of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) in the SCAJ World Specialty Coffee Conference & Exhibition 2006, which is organized by SCAJ and will take place from August 7th to 9th at Tokyo International Forum B2, Exhibition Hall 2.

The said event is the biggest independent coffee-related exhibition within Japan, where 14 producing countries are expected to participate and to gather an estimated of more than 5,000 coffee professional guests, particularly of the specialty coffee area.

Furthermore, Mr. Wakabayashi referred the recently success achieved by Panamanian Specialty Coffee at an international cupping event held in the United States, organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

As a result of the meeting, it was agreed to distribute to the Japanese Specialty Coffee companies the four series brochures on Panama tourism, elaborated in Japanese by this Diplomatic Mission, as a mean to support the advertisement efforts on behalf of the participation of SCAP in the event in reference. These brochures on Panama tourism will be a useful reference material for Japanese coffee specialists, strengthening the understanding of the cultural, environmental and historic background of Panama Specialty Coffee.

On April 11th, 2006, H.E. Dr. Alfredo Martiz, Ambassador of Panama to Japan, jointly with the Head of Missions of the Central America and Caribbean Integration System (SICA, in Spanish)’s countries, held a meeting with a delegation of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) led by Mr. Hiroto Kobayashi, Director of Development Cooperation Division of the Trade and Economic Cooperation Department of JETRO. The objective of the meeting was to present a detailed report to the Ambassadors of SICA countries on the results of Central American Products Exhibition 2005, held in Tokio from November 8th to 11th, 2005

Mr. Kobayashi informed that the event in reference was one of the most successful exhibitions carried out lately.

In this exhibition, 13 Panamanian companies participated, and JETRO reported that Sí, Es Natural, S.A. managed to close a business deal with a Japanese company to export honey-related products to Japan. Furthermore, the government of Panama has sent an official letter to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, in order to start procedures on a Phytosanitary Agreement for Panamanian poultry products to be exported to Japan, in view of the strong interest of Japanese firms to import Panamanian poultry products.

Ambassador Martiz, as Pro-Tempore President of SICA, expressed his deepest gratitude to JETRO for its continued efforts to promote the insertion of Central American and Caribbean companies into the Japanese market.

From April 5th to 7th, 2006, on behalf of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP, in Spanish), the Consulate of Panama to Tokyo participated for first time as exhibitor in "Sea Japan 2006", an international maritime exhibition, which took place at Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Center, Tokyo.

The event was organized by CMP Japan Co., Ltd. / Seatrade Communications Ltd. and supported by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Japanese Shipowners' Association, the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan, Japan Ship Exporters' Association, Japanese Marine Equipment Association, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Bureau of Port and Harbour and JETRO.

Banners and videos of the Panama Canal and the Panama Maritime Authority were displayed at the booth of the Consulate of Panama to Tokyo, where our personnel managed to promote the advantages of the Panamanian Maritime Registry, distributing brochures prepared in Japanese by this Diplomatic Mission.

A large number of visitors came to our booth, which reflects the utmost importance of the Panama Registry to the Japanese maritime community, and underlines the strategic position of Panama as a modern ports and logistic hub for the maritime sector all over the world.

On April 5th, 2006 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (Tokyo time), the Republic of Panama took part in a videoconference on Disability and Development Infrastructure Development Projects and Accessibility, which was organized by World Bank Tokyo Office. In this occasion, the participant cities were as follows: Tokyo, Washington, Panama, Okinawa and Bangkok.

Considering that Panama is 14-hours beyond Japan, the Panamanian Delegation composed by representatives of the National Service of Disabled People, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Office of the First Lady, attended the videoconference using the facilities of the City of Knowledge on April 4th from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Panamanian Delegation introduced the efforts carried out by the Torrijos administration, particularly, the work of the First Lady of Panama, Vivian de Torrijos, in order to improve life conditions of disabled people in Panama.

This seminar was a great opportunity to exchange points of view and obtaining knowledge regarding World Bank policies on the said issue. On this occasion, Dr. Judith Heumann, Advisor for Disability and Development of the World Bank Washington D.C. Office, praised President Torrijos Administration’s commitment to incorporate disabled people into national development.

For the first time, the Embassy of Panama to Japan served as facilitator to get the participation of our country’s officers in a videoconference regarding an important issue for the Panamanian government. From now on, by using its connection points such as the City of Knowledge, Panama can benefit of receiving up-to-date information on different topics presented by the World Bank Tokyo Office Development Learning Center.

On behalf the Republic of Panama, H.E. Dr. Alfredo Martiz, Ambassador of Panama to Japan, participated in the Third Core Group Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), which was held in Tokyo, on 29th and 30th March 2006.

FEALAC is an important International Cooperation Forum that gathers 32 nations from Latin America and East Asia regions, including Panama. FEALAC has among its objectives to increase common understanding and trustfulness, intensify politic dialogue and the cooperation mechanism among nation members, oriented to share experiences and develop new associations, as well as to promote cooperation in several areas, such as economy, trade and investment, finance, science and technology, environmental protection, culture, sports, one-to-one contacts, so forth.

The Core Group Meetings of FEALAC seek to speed up the Forum performance through granting priority to projects and issues that must be considered by Senior Officers and Ministers for Foreign Affairs of member countries.

Panama is participating in FEALAC, as part of the multidirectional foreign affairs policy guided by H.E. Martin Torrijos Espino, President of Panama. Panama’s foreign policy seeks the active insertion of the country into several international forums, particularly in Asia, where there is the biggest economic growth and technological development of the world.

From March 5th to 26th, 2006, the exhibition “Beautiful Nature of Panama”, which was jointly organized by Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome, Association for the Conservation of Wild Orquids of Panama (COSPA in Spanish), and the Embassy of Panama, took place at the Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome.

Several activities were carried out such as lectures given by experts on orchids, birds, Panama indigenous groups, exhibition and workshop of mola design (textiles appliqué made by Kuna Indians), and Panama Specialty coffee sampling.

Likewise, H.E. Dr. Alfredo Martiz, Ambassador of Panama to Japan, delivered a lecture on tourism, economy, history and Panama Canal before an audience of approximately 100 Japanese citizens. During three weeks a large number of people visited the site of the exhibition, which shows the interest of Japanese people for the various aspects of the Panamanian culture.

From March 14th to 17th, 2006, Café de Eleta, S.A. with the support of both JETRO and this Diplomatic Mission, participated in Foodex Japan 2006, which took place at Makuhari Messe. The Panamanian company in reference presented Specialty Coffee, which is produced with high quality standards.

It is important to mention that Foodex is one of the biggest food and beverage fair in the world that attracts around 100,000 visitors, and where approximately 2,500 companies participated as exhibitors.

From March 14th to 16th, 2006, the Embassy of Panama jointly with Consulates of Panama to Tokyo and Kobe, assisted the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) in organizing technical seminars on maritime issues, which were held in Imabari City, Ehime prefecture, and Tokyo. In this occasion, Mr. Fernando Solórzano, PMA Merchant Marine General Director, and Mr. Napoleón Smith, PMA Segumar Director, participated together with Mr. Juan Antonio Suárez, General Consul of Panama to Kobe.

On March 14th, the Panamanian Delegation paid a Courtesy Visit to Mr. Shinobu Ochi, Major of Imabari City, which has Sister City relationship with Panama. Afterwards, the Panamanian Delegation carried out a conference about maritime issues before an audience of 90 shipowners.

On March 15th, PMA officers held a meeting with Representatives of Japan Shipowners Association in Tokyo, discussing issues related to the Panamanian Registry. Later on, the PMA representatives delivered the second Maritime Seminar to one-hundred participants from the Maritime sector.

Finally, on March 16th, PMA officers met the Port State Control Agency Officers, where they dealt with issues related to maritime inspection and port security. The seminars were successful due to the large audience, showing a strong interest in the Panama Registry.