WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao wants to use its expanding economic relationship with Panama to strengthen food security, diversify suppliers and bring more of the island’s imports closer to home as part of a broader strategy to make the economy more resilient.
Food security and regional supply chains are among the main issues being discussed during a major Panamanian trade mission to Curaçao led by Minister of Commerce and Industry Julio Moltó.
More than 70 Panamanian entrepreneurs and institutional representatives are participating in the mission, which follows Economic Development Minister Roderick Middelhof’s visit to Panama in April.
The Curaçao government sees closer ties with Panama as an opportunity to gain greater access to suppliers of competitively priced, high-quality products within the region instead of depending predominantly on supply routes originating farther away.
Panama has one of Latin America’s most important logistics networks, centered around the Panama Canal and the Colón Free Zone. Curaçao believes this infrastructure could be used to establish new supply and distribution channels between Latin America and the Dutch Caribbean.
The cooperation is not intended to work in only one direction. Curaçao is also positioning itself as a possible logistics and commercial gateway through which products originating in Latin America could reach other Caribbean islands.
The proposed relationship therefore combines two objectives: strengthening Curaçao’s own security of supply while creating new commercial opportunities for local companies involved in logistics, trade, distribution and services.
Food security and stronger regional supply chains are explicitly identified as areas of cooperation in the Letter of Intent that Middelhof and Moltó are expected to sign.
The agreement follows renewed economic contacts between the two countries after a long period without formal ministerial-level engagement. Middelhof’s visit to Panama in April represented the first such contact in more than 14 years.
During that visit, discussions covered trade, logistics, regional distribution and cooperation between free-trade zones. Middelhof also formally proposed creating a permanent economic dialogue.
That initiative has now resulted in the first Panama–Curaçao Dialogue on Trade, Logistics and Investment, bringing together ministers, government agencies and private-sector representatives.
Other subjects on the agenda include trade facilitation, investment promotion and improved maritime and air connections.
The two governments intend to continue the process after the current trade mission through additional roundtable discussions and the development of a bilateral action plan.
For Curaçao, the initiative forms part of a wider effort to strengthen economic relationships within the region and translate diplomatic contacts into measurable opportunities for businesses and consumers.
Middelhof said Panama could give the island access to new suppliers and competitively priced products while Curaçao could use its location to develop additional trade flows toward Caribbean markets.
The broader objective is to make Curaçao less economically vulnerable by diversifying where essential goods come from, strengthening regional supply networks and creating new opportunities for local companies to participate in trade between Latin America and the Caribbean.