The President of the Republic of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, arrived this Sunday in the city of Paris on an official visit to strengthen diplomatic ties with France and express Panama's rejection of inclusion in the European Union's discriminatory list of non-cooperative countries and territories on tax matters.
Mulino has indicated that his main objective during this visit will be to seek France's support for Panama to be removed from the EU's tax list and to prevent further injustices. He emphasized that Panama does not engage in money laundering nor finances terrorism, and rejected the unfounded accusations against it.
The president is scheduled to meet with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, where they will address this issue, as well as the reactivation of bilateral relations between the two countries. It is worth noting that no Panamanian president has been received on an official visit at the Élysée Palace, the seat of the French Presidency, for the past 11 years.
Mulino is traveling accompanied by several key figures, such as the Director General of Revenues, a specialist in tax lists, the Superintendent of Banks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the designated ambassador to France, and the president of the International Financial Equality Action Group, who have been working to clean Panama's image in light of the consequences of these discriminatory lists.
Panamanian authorities have reiterated that the country fully complies with regulations and measures to prevent crimes condemned by the EU, and that Panama's inclusion in this list is baseless. President Mulino hopes to demonstrate to the French and European authorities that Panama does not deserve to be on this list and seeks France's support to achieve its exclusion.
