A Panamanian maritime official said in Beijing on Friday that Chinese vessels can enjoy more benefits and that Chinese ship registry fees will be remitted to attract Chinese businesses.

Jorge Barakat Pitty, chief administrator of Panama's Maritime Authority, speaks at a press conference held in Beijing to promote Panama's government business program on March 27, 2015. [China.org.cn]

The Republic of Panama has the largest ship registry in the world, and its vessel registry is a very important source of its national revenues. To enhance its international competiveness, Panama passed two laws in late 2014 to offer a 100 percent discount on registration fees, consular annual fees, casualty investigation fees, inspection fees and more for two to three years for newly registered vessels that are registered before Dec. 31, 2015, said Jorge Barakat Pitty, chief administrator of Panama's Maritime Authority.

Although China has become a major world shipbuilding center and is now the second-largest user of the Panama Canal, the number of Chinese ships registered in Panama is still low. Statistics from the Panama Maritime Authority that measure through early 2015 show that only 211 Chinese vessels were registered in Panama, far fewer than those were registered from Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

Pitty said that Panama welcomes more Chinese ships to register in Panama and welcomes Chinese investment infrastructure construction and other fields in his country. He said many of Panama's conditions, laws and regulations are flexible for foreign investors and companies, whom he encouraged to negotiate with the government to satisfy their needs when necessary.

Beijing Shengting Law Firm announced at the press conference held in Beijing on Friday that the law firm has initiated a process of strategic cooperation with fellow qualified firms in Panama to become the Chinese agency to handle ship registry in Panama for Chinese enterprises.From this day on, Chinese vessels don't have to go to Panama to register and don't need to register through agencies in Singapore and Tokyo. This will save a huge amount of time, energy and money, said Bi Wenqiang, the director of Beijing Shengting Law Firm.

Since Panama currently has no diplomatic relations with China, Chinese enterprises are worried about the risks of overseas investment there. Bi suggested that Chinese companies learn more about foreign laws and regulations before investing or initiating projects abroad.

"There are both challenges and opportunities for Chinese enterprises that are willing to invest in Latin American countries," Bi said. "You have to first listen to various experts' opinions and learn more about the Latin American investment environment."

Cui Shoujun, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said the ministerial meeting of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States held in January indicated that there will be a historic breakthrough in relations between China and Latin America, ushering in a new era of development.

He said,"China and Latin American regions are all developing countries, they all have the same vision and intention to develop, and they have a relatively strong and complementary mutual interest in one another. Their economies are going up, and in the next decade, China's investment into and trade with Latin America will pour in and increase very fast, which will benefit every country and will give them a development boost."

Several executives from Chinese corporations such as the Power Construction Corporation of China, China Communications Construction Co. Ltd., Beijing Construction Engineering Group and China Great Wall Industry Corporation joined diplomats from Cuba, Colombia, Argentina and Spain to weigh in with their view at the press conference, showing their big interest in the prospects for China-Latin America cooperation.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)