 of the economy through public strategies. The most important thing is that the public sector did this, keeping the responsibility in the management of its finances and the international commitments. Thanks to this reduction of the debt GDP relation, the management of the fiscal deficit that does not exceed and it's regulated by the 3.1 percent of the GDP. Panama managed the investment level of the main three ratings and this investment growth has enabled us to finance the growth of the economy. The fundamental element was fiscal reform that enabled us to enlarge the basis, which allows me not to do any tax reforms later and it enabled us to modernize the collection system, which gave us resources to invest in the social sector. We started the universal scholarship that is aimed to all children in the schools. We started a social plan for elderly who do not have a pension and we started a strong program to reduce poverty. We have managed to reduce poverty to 33 and 25 percent. Before going to the changes in the social area, let me emphasize the economic area and yes, it's true that there is this phrase in English saying if it ain't broken, don't change it. How would you make a difference in the government from Martinelli's government in the economic area? Substantial changes in economic area. We will strengthen this model, keep the policies that have given the country the success we have achieved today. The legal safety that tripled the foreign investment from $200 million to $400 million, a country that increased the headquarters of international regional offices of these international enterprises. In the first office in 2001, we have followed the economic success of Singapore model. In this continuity, there's a debate. I have heard and read if the tourism can become a government policy or state policy. What are you proposing in this area? At first, we made a survey of the comparative advantages of the country to the engines of growth and the capacity to have a sustainable competitiveness and the government to push and distribute and generate employment in the country. One is the financial service, logistic service. We can do one day or two talking about the advantages, but the tourism sector and the agricultural production has aggregated values for exports. The infrastructure works began by the administration were made precisely on a program to enable these works to have an impact in several sectors simultaneously. For example, international airports to serve tourism in the future, and today it has a lot of opportunities, a lot of products in the agricultural sector. And many airports also have an impact on the logistic development. We need a plan, review the plan during the transition period if God would allow it to make the corrections in the next five years, check the scope, what we have reached, the impact of this infrastructure and include new sectors or make adjustments for the economic successful model and other figures we have mentioned. In this table yesterday, one of your other candidates spoke about the need of transparency in the processes of continuity. Undoubtedly, there is the advantage of having more years to complete the process, but there is the advantage of not doing the cuts of the cash flow to see what was managed well or not. In Panama, we have the case in public works in Mexico, and are you going to do any process of controllers of the works that are received, all the works made in the state go through a process of administration and tender, public tenders that are monitored by Internet organizations and corresponding offices. If there is any interest or something done, we need to take it to the offices that have the capacity and the power given by the law to do some type of research investigation. This is a structure that the country has given this legal authority for so many companies to set up and establish so they can have the become and remain safe that this sector, this economic growth is going to remain and there will be the conditions for letting them to continue doing their foreign investment as for the employment. You have undoubtedly changes in that sense. You have spoken about scholarships to university students, to the more poverty sectors, fight again, the poverty. What can you tell us about that enormous challenge for the Latin Americans and the people from the United States? It's a sector of a population who is not in the capacity to join the new economy of the 21st century. One of the fundamental basis of my political campaign is education. Education and the development of capital resource, a human resource is the extension of the successful economic model. We will continue with all the progress we have achieved in education in the elementary and high school, but we are also preparing to have a technical education and university education to allow Panama being not only a logistic center in transportation and trade, but also an encounter of the hemisphere and we have proposed a hub of universities using the successful experience of Georgia Tech and Arkansas. We have agreements with them. We want to achieve other agreements with American universities to be evaluated and we are going to make Panama a center of innovation and development for education. Not only for Panamanians to have access to a world education, but also in regional terms, the community college, we have also spoken with some stakeholders on education issues, which will enable many people to study a world class education and meet the standards of the local market. We cannot do these if we do not have a triangle of the government, private sector and the academics. We have a very good educational model and the participation of the private sector is fundamental. We need to work, Roxana, with the discriminated sectors. My campaign is focused on the attention of women, people who have remained outside from this scope, the youngsters who are outside the circle of employment, due to family reasons or because they are on the streets with, on gangs and, or maybe girls, single girls who got pregnant due to several reasons. We cannot say why or they were in this situation. We, these are some of the commitments I have acquired and this strengthens my understanding of the challenge and the country we have. Some sectors of the old politics do not understand the model change. They do not understand what is happening globally. What are the concerns of the countries who grow, but we need to distribute to achieve a sustainability and do not believe education is the fundamental way or method. Let me just, as we are in the World Economic Forum, let's go back to the topic of ideologies that prevail in our countries and in the politics. They, something that we have to distribute while others think that growing is not for some unnecessary condition prior to the distribution. And we have a very close evident case like Venezuela. In geopolitics, what are you thinking about with respect to the declarations of this bilateral situation between Panama and Venezuela? Let me clarify that we are all aware of this. There are some incompatibilities between social and economic growth and how to incorporate this as a result of the economic growth closing gaps will allow us to get to a good circle. We have managed to reduce 153,000 Panamanians who were poor and now they form part of the low middle class and start enjoying the services. The government has to work jointly so this does not become a snowball and adequate reduction of poverty that needs to go hand in hand with the infrastructure, social works, education, services and health. Education for consumption, let me share with you, we spoke about this in Davos, Switzerland, the major of Buenos Aires, Mr. Mac. We will run for his, the presidency of his country who will also be in your shoes soon. He gave us a phrase that applies very well to Latin America. Sometimes we are rich in information and millionaire in expectations. Consumers sometimes in our countries are undergoing with this middle classes in this situation. How will you do this financial education, since education is one of your pillars, how do we do incorporate 153,000 Panamanians and do not find themselves in the middle of spending with their credit cards and get to a point where they cannot be part of the solution and responsible consumers, but rather victims of well, capitalism. I am a faithful believer of financial education. I was born in a 45 year old business with one of my partners and the financial education in during my first years, I strengthened my capacities to get, start joining as different phases of the company until shareholder. We need to take this management and this model understanding of the flows and savings needs to be taken to the Panamanians. It's a fundamental piece of the formation of a middle class to be sustainable and to get to the consumption levels in such a way that we can avoid these gaps in the market to later make adjustments. And I congratulate you for bringing this topic because it's not discussed terribly. Because of my own experience, I was lucky to have a good formal education, but also learned from experience and in addition to formation, but we need to train the people so that we can give them a bridge and to let them learn the risks of the integral formation of the person. Another part we know that in Venezuela and many other countries, political parties think that what they need to do is distribute without thinking about creating the richness. Let's go back to Venezuela if you want to share what President Maduro requested. Basically, he's saying that there's our responsibilities of the press and politicians do not think, but also from the United States, the students' revolts and demonstrations. What do you think about this? We cannot blame others. It's a common practice when we don't have an immediate answer to the situations we're facing. We used to say that Venezuela had a peaceful, stability environment, but for all the parties, Maduro needs to give his way as well as from the other part to get a consensus or a peaceful solution so that Venezuela's situation does not continue escalating. Having a collapsed Venezuela would mean to affect the energy and take sources to many countries. Some radicals and radical allotment of resources and this is not a situation where anyone would win because we need to take measures so that Venezuela can reach its level of stability. Nowadays, Venezuela is another player in the energy issues. The United States has changed the game. They have become stubborn exporters and because of the new techniques that have led the energy costs to reduce, the impact of this situation might be different in disregarding what is the final result. Panama is also a great consolidator in the energy sector. Our logistic call enables us to be strong in that trade, traffic and storage and distribution of energy and also our advantages, geographical position and there's going to be a lot of debate regarding the energy sector and the change of the global scenario which will impact everywhere but Panama will also be fundamental in the resolution of this conflict. Through the diplomatic means, we cannot say that we are in a contadora room called contadora and we made a call to the Latin American diplomats through the negotiation, reach conclusions and solution to conflicts in various serious spaces in Central America. Using the diplomatic means for Mexicans, I remembered a great ambassador, Bernardo Sepulveda in a great process of your Secretary of External Relations. I would like to give the floor to some press members, some press members of the Panama and the businessmen who would like to have a direct dialogue with the candidate Arias. Please, if you can pass the mic. We are open to the dialogue. We have ten minutes for questions and answers session. Please, can you turn on the lights because I cannot see well. Good morning. My name is William Espinosa from the Chamber of Business. Candidate, Panama is an important player in the region. What are the plans towards the future in the next five years for Panama financially speaking and also can you address your opinion on the economical crisis in the region? Very well. At this time we have a movement in terms of the world trade rules. The main provider for manufacturing, China, is going through a process where they are increasing in a permanent and constant way their labor cost and the other hand the cost of energy is generating new opportunities here in the hemisphere and in the region. Panama will have a key role because of its geographic location. Panama is close to its main market from Latin America which is the United States and it has a modern port system, interconnectivity system between ports through the railway and infrastructure that was developed with this administration, the Cologne Highway, the connectivity with the two main ports and the connectivity with the ports of the international airport in Tokumen where I'm going to develop a new cargo hub similar to the hub for passengers and incorporating a third landing strip. That logistical Panama has a comparative advantage but we have to strengthen the work that has been done during this administration. This is going to allow us to rescue what is happening in terms of international trade. Fifteen years ago I have a vast experience with business in China because of my experience as a businessman. I've been to China about 45 times since the beginning of the 1990s and I lived through China's transformation. I was sharing with some colleagues how the cost of labor has increased in China in the past 15 years. The cost used to be 20 percent 15 years ago when compared to a manufacturing plant in Mexico. Now the numbers have increased incredibly by 56 percent and these are new rules of the game that are being redefined. We have been talking to Roxana talking about the NAFTA and the operations in Mexico. There was an impact when they moved particularly to China. My feeling is that there will be movement. We don't know in what degree and how much but for that the countries in the hemisphere have to be prepared and Panama is a key player because of the competitive capacities that we're going to generate through the efficiency of the port system and the expansion of the Panama Canal. We hope so. We hope that it's the time of Latin America or the Americas. Now I see someone raising their hand. If not we're going to continue asking questions from the front. Good morning candidate. My name is Juan Oraste. I am part of a company that direct the Panama through the implementation of law 41 and as a foreigner I can relate to many others that have come to this country. My question is towards the future. There's a boom of foreigners of different socioeconomic levels coming to Panama. What are the policies to protect all of these people that have decided to move to Panama and live here because of the economy safety security and others. You are talking about those that come through law 41 and decide to stay in Panama. No for all the other ones that come through the level of construction. We have a boom of Colombians Venezuelans that see Panama as a new point to send money to their countries and to benefit their families. So there's a boom not only from the business people but also from other social classes that have arrived here and they're at different levels. How are we going to provide stability and security for all of them and what is the policy in migration for the future. Well you are very familiar with law 41. Law 41 has to do with multinational companies or are you talking about Panama Pacifico. Which 41 are you basing yourself on. OK multinational enterprises very well you receive flexibility. In fact when I was a vice minister of foreign affairs at that time the minister is who is now the minister which is Enriquez. We were able to reduce the time that it took for the visa from 15 to zero days and we allowed this to be instantaneous now. And this was included in the competitiveness forum and that is one of the key elements that make Panama one of the countries that moved up many levels in the competitiveness ranking worldwide. Yes and with very practical conditions business oriented. We provided an office that was dedicated exclusively for the issuance of visas for companies that were going to be using this law that had been approved by the Ministry of Commerce. This is why we're able to issue them visa in the very same day in the same building. I think the question has to do more with who does not bring money but brings the yearning for work and the willingness to be productive. Well we have a migration policy that is very open. During this administration we eliminated visa requirements for more than 30 countries in order to make transit more flexible without making the security standards decrease. Likewise in customs we have included the system of face recognition in Tacoma and airport and we have to ensure that there's balance between migratory movement and safety and security. Our policy has been also to make formal some of the immigration statuses that have been working for some time in the economy and did not have the capacity to have a formal status. We implemented a program called Grisol de Razas and we're going to keep it so that those that are in that condition can improve their quality of life in terms of productivity for them to be part of formal economy and to also become contributors to the system. Another key topic in this session on Latin America is that informality of our economies which also carries great weight. I see a hand that's being raised over here please can we give the gentleman a microphone. Yes Mr. candidate good afternoon. My name is Santiago Seres from the University of Buenos Aires Argentina. We have seen that in the last years Panama has subscribed exchange of tributary information with countries in the region and outside of the region. What policy does Panama have for the compliance or fulfillment of these information agreements. What perspective do you see in the following years. Panama has been able to position itself in the world forums with a responsible management of the sign signature of agreement that allow us to be removed from the gray lists in the organizations that manage transparency and we're going to continue with that policy. The country is open to investment. It's a country that is benefited from the exchange of information between our countries and also the countries where we have the investment coming from. And we have a win-win relationship as we continue progressing our diplomacy is going to be oriented or geared to the commercial or trade area. We're going to continue opening doors to strengthen this topic that also bolster the the countries in this atmosphere. We cannot go against the stream. We have to add ourselves also taking the due precautions and the appropriate states over time and when it is appropriate. We have time for one more question. Is anyone else in the room interested in asking another question. My name is Gaston Mesa. Mr. candidate I am from America. Economia. We are a regional media. I wanted to ask you what will be your three main objectives in with relationship to Latin America specifically and particularly with the Pacific Alliance with Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Thank you very much. Today is a very important day because after a successful negotiation where all of the parties agreed we signed the free trade agreement with Mexico which was the last step to be able to be part of the Pacific Alliance. And after this has been ratified by the different Congresses and parliaments of the different countries. It's interesting through the Panama Pacific I visualize Panama taking advantage of its competitive advantage and it's not just the capacity to move things efficiently you have to translate this to cost. Latin America has for example the weight of the fact that the food that get to the majority carry a very high cost in the product higher than the cost of transportation in the developed economies. That competitiveness is going to mean that we don't only have to give Panama the opportunity to serve as a hub of the countries towards the main markets but also it will allow the countries in the region to use the competitiveness of the ports and the logistical systems to lower the costs and services that are received in the final destination. I like to invite all of the people that are looking at this program for you to think of Panama as that point of hemispheric discussion. One of the ambitions that we have is to generate a culture in Panama where the topics that affect the hemisphere especially because of all the changes that are going on globally for us to use our connectivity platform through air connectivity as well and the advantages that we offer for different services so that in Panama we have discussions of different topics that are going to have an impact in decisions at the continent level so I see a very important role in two directions and we are here to serve you. Hope God willing as of June 1st so that Panama can carry out its destiny. It has been our vocation since 500 years ago since we carried gold from Peru through Panama to Spain. We have been a transit location all of the gold through from the fever rush in California. We play the same role in Panama. It's in our DNA and the most important thing is for this to be transformed in costs and economies for the benefit not only of Panama but also the entire region. Thank you Mr. Arias and thank you to all of our audience for being here and in a few minutes we're going to sign the free trade agreement between Panama and Mexico. Our president Enrique Peña Nieto is already here in Panama so much luck in this election run. Thank you very much for being here and we're going to adjourn here with the third candidate soon and we hope that you accompany us with Mr. Juan Carlos Varela as well. Thank you very much.