Panama, Barbados Initial DTA

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

24 June 2010

Meeting to discuss enhancing bilateral relations, Panama’s Vice President, Juan Carlos Varela and George Hutson, Barbados’s Minister of International Business, initialed the text of a convention for the avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income between the two countries.

Speaking prior to the signing, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson said: “Barbados is looking forward to the strengthening of ties with Panama, and the signing of a Double Taxation Agreement between the two Organization of American States member countries will give impetus to those relations."

For his part, Varela said Panama was also looking to expand its economic presence in the Caribbean and South America, and he expressed the hope that a Free Trade Agreement with CARICOM would materialize in the near future. "This would benefit both sides," he said. Remarking that Panama's economy has been markedly resilient to the crisis, he stressed the importance of foreign investments and noted that bilateral relations and reciprocal agreements were essential as governments prepared for the upturn.

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