Date: February 12, 2016
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amanda White
(337) 433-3632
MEDIA ALERT:
ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL VISTOR
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA – The Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (Alliance) announces a
special visit from Jorge Quijano, the CEO/Administrator of the Panama Canal Authority to SWLA on Tuesday,
January 6.
Mr. Quijano will be making a presentation about the Panama Canal, the progress of the new locks and the
impact the canal expansion will have on Louisiana. Mr. Quijano will meet with representatives from regional
LNG export projects and will follow with his presentation. He will also take a helicopter tour of the area to
view the proposed project sites in Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes.
The Alliance has lead two trade missions to Panama; one in 2012 and the latest in October of 2014. "This last
trade mission was a very large multi-track trade mission with maritime being one of the specific tracks.
Panama Canal authorities expressed a particular interest in our LNG export facilities during planning for the
2014 trade mission", says David Conner, trade mission lead. "We were joined by two of our LNG project
representatives from Magnolia LNG and Southern California Telephone and Energy. At that time, I invited Mr.
Quijano to visit Southwest Louisiana, so we are excited to have this visit from him so soon after our trip.”
“Timing is significant,” added Conner, “because the new locks are scheduled to be completed in 2015 and in
operation in early 2016. LNG will be a new kind of shipment through the canal and canal authorities are
making plans to receive and service this vital energy commodity. This will allow significant savings in time and
money for shipments of LNG to Far East markets. More significant will be the increased capacity of the canal
for all shipments because of this expansion. Our geographic proximity to the canal and this new capacity will
bring benefit to Louisiana for all cargo ships using the canal. Mr. Quijano will give us his expert perspective on
the significance of the canal to the global shipping market as well as how it should affect the Louisiana
economy. While in LakeCharles, he will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Port of Lake
Charles. “
The event will be held at the SEED Center at 4310 Ryan St., on the second floor at 10:45. Those wishing to
attend should RSVP to Portia Metoyer by emailing pmetoyer@allianceswla.org.
About the Alliance: The Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance is a three organization
collaborative of the Chamber SWLA, the SWLA Alliance Foundation, and the Southwest Louisiana Partnership
for Economic Development. The “Alliance” combines the staff and resources of the three organizations under
an umbrella coalition to strengthen the business recruiting and retention efforts for Allen, Beauregard,
Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jeff Davis parishes.
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