Liverpool joins forces with Panama Canal to boost trade

The Port of Liverpool has formed a strategic alliance with the Panama Canal Authority with the aim of generating new business by promoting trade routes between Liverpool and the west coast of South America via the Canal.

A memorandum of understanding was signed y by Jorge L Quijano, administrator of the Panama Canal Authority and Mark Whitworth, chief executive of Peel Ports Group, during a formal visit to Liverpool by a delegation including Panama’s canal minister and the deputy administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority.

Whitworth said: “Liverpool and Panama have both responded to the growth of the global container ship fleet with major investment programmes in recent years to accommodate newer generations of container ships. The opening of the expanded canal has the potential to open up new markets for trade and has the potential to shift international trade patterns.”

High profile Panamanian government and business leaders including Roberto Roy, Minister of Canal Affairs, and Alejandro Moreno, Deputy Administrator of Panama Maritime Authority were shown around the port by Peel Ports’ Chief Operating Officer Gary Hodgson.

They were joined by the UK’s Panama Ambassador, Ian Collard, and Ariel Perez Price, the UK’s director of international trade in Panama.