Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States and supports the financing of U.S. exports to international markets. The bank is an independent, self-sustaining federal agency that assumes the credit and country risks that the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept.
AMCHAM Panama members from the financial sector and members from AMCHAM’s Trade & Investment Committee attended the breakfast with Mr. Mulvaney and Ms. Creque-Bromberg. Discussion centered on ways in which Ex-Im Bank can offer creative financing to companies with distribution and manufacturing facilities in Panama.
Latin America and the Caribbean represent the second largest global market sector of Ex-Im Bank financing. And Panama, as the fastest growing economy in Central America, has become a key market of interest for the bank as a source of new business.
The bank’s current total exposure in Panama is approximately $1 billion, with most of the financing going to three industry sectors: aircraft, manufacturing, and agriculture. And, according to Sean Mulvaney, Ex-Im Bank envisions Panama as the logistical gateway to global business. At one point in the breakfast, he said, “Panama can be the ‘point-of-sale’ for American companies looking to export.”
“Panama is on businesses’ short list when looking to trade with Latin America,” said AMCHAM President, Luis Laguerre.
And, Ms. Xiomara Creque-Bromberg couldn’t agree more. As Regional Director of the Americas in charge of Global Business Development, her goal is to help U.S. companies export overseas and, conversely, to help international companies import U.S. goods and services. Panama has been climbing the charts in terms of commercial activity and ranks 5thin Ex-Im Bank’s Latin American/Caribbean portfolio.