In order to continue promoting trade between the U.S. and the various Latin American countries accessible through the Panama Canal, the Port of Long Beach and the Panama Canal Authority have renewed an agreement first signed back in 2010.
Though Latin American trade accounts for a relatively small percentage of the Port’s trade volume, both sides hope that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)—particularly given the recent eight-day port strike and the canal’s current expansion project—will help boost future trade. The Port of Long Beach has signed similar memorandums with other ports in China, Europe and Mexico.
“The Port of Long Beach is pleased to renew the MOU with Panama Canal as we continue to work together to increase our trade with the nations in Latin America,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle in a press release. “We see this pact as a long-term, mutually beneficial agreement.”
The memorandum calls for an “exchange of ideas” that range from engineering to environmental practices, dredging technology to marketing activities and hopefully puts to bed fears that the recent work stoppage will entice shippers to move south once the Panama Canal’s new locks are finished in 2014.