LatinNews Daily - 20 January 2026

*Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has met with the presidents of Switzerland and Singapore, Guy Parmelin and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, respectively, during a visit to Davos, Switzerland, where he is attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which is taking place from 19-23 January. According to a Panamanian presidential press release, during Mulino’s meeting with Parmelin, the two leaders discussed boosting trade. The statement notes that Panama’s main export to Switzerland is coffee while Swiss exports to Panama include pharmaceuticals, watches, optical instruments, and alcoholic beverages, among other things. According to the statement, which notes Switzerland is currently the third-largest investor in Panama, with US$5.5bn in capital in the commercial, financial, and manufacturing sectors, Mulino also highlighted key infrastructure projects including ongoing Canal projects such as the Río Indio reservoir, two ‘mega-ports’, and a gas pipeline, among other things. The same statement notes that in his meeting with Shanmugaratnam, Mulino invited Singaporean firms to increase investments in areas such as aviation, technology, energy, and logistics to take advantage of Panama’s connectivity to the Latin American market. It also highlights that Panama expressed interest in Singapore “becoming a strategic partner in semiconductor development projects due to its high level of innovation” while Shanmugaratnam signalled an interest in Singapore’s aviation industry resuming operations in Panama. Mulino highlighted to both leaders Panama’s adhesion as an associate member to the South American trading bloc Mercosur and urged both to sign up to the Treaty of Permanent Neutrality of the Panama Canal.

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