JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – Gov. Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson leave for a four-day trade mission to Panama on Saturday, August 10.
The governor said he’s going to meet with the country’s Department of Agriculture and examine the recent expansion of the Panama Canal.
Missouri and Panama made $37M in exports in 2023, according to the governor’s office. The exports with the highest demand in Panama are nonmetallic minerals, dairy products, grain and oilseed milling products, and HVAC and refrigeration equipment.
Agriculture is Missouri’s biggest industry, so Parson said it’s one he often shows off to trade partners and attempts to grow.
“We want to try to meet with the Department of Agriculture down there, try to figure out what trade agreements we might be able to come up with and how we can expand that,” Parson said.
Missouri and Panama have worked together for decades. The Missouri National Guard has been deployed in Panama since 1996 supporting the State Partnership Program. Guard members work to ensure free transit through the Panama Canal.
“Our National Guard members have been down there for years now, for decades, helping guard the Panama Canal,” Parson said. “I just want to go down there and tell them, thanks. I haven’t had the opportunity to do that, so I want to go down there and tell them that.”
Missouri is not the only state trading with Panama. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United States gets billions of dollars from trade with Panama every year.
Panama’s most valuable resource is the Panama Canal. Known as the “Hub of the Americas”, the canal connects many countries’ resources.
Columbia College professor Rudy Araujo says Panama’s main economic contribution is its ability to move trade; 10% of world trade goes through the Panama Canal.
“It can move a lot of our trade, a lot of what we export to the rest of the world,” Araujo said.
The Panama Canal underwent a huge expansion recently to make room for more trade activity. Parson said he’s interested in assessing if Missouri’s big waterway, the Missouri River, could benefit from a similar expansion.
“How important that Panama Canal is for us, because as we expand the river ports in the state of Missouri, it was huge when the Panama Canal expanded. So I want to be able to do that,” Parson said.
Taxpayers do not pay for any of the governor’s trade missions. The trip is funded by the Hawthorn Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on growing Missouri’s economy.
“We are trying to grow our economy. We are trying to grow our workforce and make sure that the businesses that are in our state are happy and want to continue to work and grow here,” said Becky Willard, executive director of the Hawthorn Foundation.
Only about one week ago, Parson returned from a trade mission in Europe. That trip focused on aerospace and beverage manufacturing.
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