ATLANTA – State Representative Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), chair of the Georgia House Transportation Committee, recently traveled with six fellow state transportation leaders from five other Southern states to Panama for high-level briefings on the Panama Canal expansion project. The agenda allowed the delegation to learn more about the need for Southern ports to continue essential infrastructure enhancements that will be necessary to accommodate the significantly larger vessels and expanded cargo volumes expected to arrive after the completion of the Panama Canal expansion.
“This trip will be invaluable in the future,” said Rep. Roberts. “The contacts that we made will serve Georgia well as we move this state forward.”
Upon completion of its $5.25 billion expansion in 2014, the Panama Canal will facilitate an even greater flow of trade between Asia and the Americas and substantially impact the volume of trade reaching Gulf and East Coast ports in the United States. Georgia is expected to be impacted directly by the increase in cargo and vessel traffic in the aftermath of the Panama Canal expansion.
The delegation’s Panama visit began with a series of briefings and a tour of the Panama Canal Authority. Mr. Jorge L. Quijano, the Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of the Panama Canal Authority, provided Rep. Roberts and the other delegation members with a broad overview of the expansion effort and its critical importance in the effective and efficient transfer of cargo between Asia and the Americas. Mr. Rodolfo Sabonge, Vice President, Office of Market Research and Analysis at the Panama Canal Authority, spoke on the role of the Canal’s expansion in the context of surging global trade and the contemporary shipping industry trend of deploying substantially larger vessels to take advantage of economies of scale. The delegation received a tour and further briefings on the control tower of the current locks and the construction site of the two new sets of locks, on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the Canal.
Rep. Robert’s delegation also attended a briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Panama on U.S. – Panama political, economic and social linkages, which included reference to the impact of the expansion of the Panama Canal and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Panama that was signed into law in October 2011. The briefings at the U.S. Embassy were carried out by Mr. Daniel B. O’Connor, Deputy Political Counselor and Mr. G. Nar Dao, Economic Officer.
Finally, Rep. Roberts visited the offices of the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Panama (AmCham Panama) for briefings and dialogue on the potential for expanding the economic and financial linkages between Panama and corporate and business interests in the SLC states. Information on these topics was provided by: Mr. C.E. Maurice Belanger, Executive Director of AmCham Panama; Mr. Luis Lagurre, the 2012 President of AmCham Panama; Mr. Edgardo Della Serra, Trade Center Director at AmCham Panama and several other members of the business community.
The delegation visit to Panama was sponsored by the Southern Office of The Council of State Governments (CSG) and the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC). For over a decade now, the CSG and SLC have focused on the critical role played by Southern ports not only in the economic calculations of the Southern region but also the nation as a whole.
The Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of The Council of State Governments was established in 1947 and is composed of the presiding officers and key legislators from 15 Southern states. The SLC is a non-partisan and non-profit organization.
Representative Jay Roberts represents the citizens of District 154, which includes portions of Ben Hill, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Telfair, Tift, and Wheeler counties. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2002, and is currently the Chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He also currently serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Rules, and Ways & Means committees.
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