Carmen Gisela Vergara is a

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For mo ...

lawyer, diplomat and international trade expert. She was appointed Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration ( SIECA) from July 2013 to June 2017 by the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration of Central America. Carmen Gisela Vergara also served as Panama's Minister for Trade and Industry, and Member of the Board of Directors of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration ( CABEI). She currently serves as Executive Director o
PROPANAMA

Education and career

Vergara studied law and political science. She has a degree in banking and finance law from the

Externado University The Universidad Externado de Colombia (Externado University of Colombia) is a private university in Bogotá, Colombia. It has produced graduates including lawyers, academics, judges, financiers, journalists, as well as senior government officials a ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

before completing post-graduate studies in international trade negotiations at the University of Santiago, Chile. After completing her studies, she returned to Panama. She worked at a state bank, as an executor judge, before establishing Panama's investment promotion agency (PROPANAMA). Her career at the Ministry of Trade and Industry began first as the first national director for attracting investment and promoting exports. Vergara then established and managed the first business incubator at Panama's City of Knowledge. She returned to the Ministry of Trade and Industry as Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade overseeing exports, investments and trade negotiations. Vergara was appointed Minister on 1 April 2008, and during her tenure she was responsible for the negotiations for preferential trade agreements with Singapore, Canada, Colombia, Central America and the European Union while overseeing the development of key industries such as energy, mining, cinematographic industries, amongst others. She was appointed by the Panamanian government as member of the Board of Directors at CABEI in 2009. Vergara was then appointed by the Central American Council of Ministers of Economic Integration, Secretary-General of SIECA on 1 July 2013, choosing to focus on issues such as economic and gender equality, creative industries and trade facilitation policies. During her tenure as Secretary-General,

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

established the first and only

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

in the Americas. Upon completion of her appointment at SIECA, Vergara became Executive Director of th
Federation of Chambers and Industrial Associations of Central America and the Dominican Republic
In July 2019, the Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Vergara as Ambassador and Executive Director of PROPANAMA, the national investment and export promotion agency.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vergara, Carmen Gisela Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Panamanian lawyers Universidad Externado de Colombia alumni University of Santiago, Chile alumni Government ministers of Panama