'Panama has worked hard to achieve this milestone and has made remarkable strides toward complying with the international standards in a very short time,' said OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria in a statement. 'It is important that Panama continues to work to fully implement the standards.'
The Washington-based National Foreign Trade Council welcomed the OECD's news. 'The removal of Panama from the OECD's gray list is a major accomplishment, which symbolizes the international community's recognition of recent steps the Panamanian government has taken,' the trade group said.
'Today's news is also a reminder of the fact that Panama and our other pending FTA (free trade agreement) partners — Colombia and South Korea — have enacted reforms and made legislative changes and other adjustments to address every challenge or concern the United States has raised during the lead up to the FTA ratification process,' NFTC said. 'Facing a wide range of domestic pressures, each government's efforts were not easy, but they all rose to the occasion.'
