Panama agreement for Long Beach

An agreement involving the Port of Long Beach and the Panama Canal Authority aims to open up new trade between the port, the Caribbean and South America's east coast.


Although at present these routes don’t account for a large proportion of Long Beach's traffic, there are hopes that the Panama Canal’s increased capacity will help to put it onto the map, despite the existence of other ports that are closer.


Two arguments support this idea: one is the growing draw from the developing Latin American countries like Brazil, the other is that Long Beach is on the West Coast, which may help throughput engaged with the established pull from this part of the US economy.


“Latin America is a relatively small but an emerging trade partner for our region,” said Richard Steinke, Port of Long Beach executive director in a press release. “This partnership will help increase our reach to this market as it expands.”


The Memorandum of Understanding promises an exchange of ideas in the areas of marketing, engineering, dredging technology and environmental practices.
(Source:http://www.portstrategy.com)