Welcome to the 18th edition of the Panama Interview Series where we discuss topics regarding foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Today we focus on the emerging development modality of Precision Probiotics which promises to significantly improve the efficacy of probiotics and enable manufacturers and brand owners of probiotic supplements to identify the best probiotic strains for the specific health targets of individual consumers. The promise of Precision Probiotics is the application of probiotics to “personalized” nutrition and preventive medicine. Exciting stuff!

To that end, we are honored to have as our guests Jordi Riera, Chief Business Development Manager, Kaneka Probiotics.

Kaneka Probiotics is a division of Kaneka Americas Holding, Inc., and is a leader in the development of scientifically based ingredients for the global nutrition industry. Kaneka Probiotics is committed to promoting business development to provide solutions that support healthy and energetic lives.

As Chief Business Development Manager at Kaneka Probiotics, Jordi Riera is responsible for strategic account management, innovation and product development, and the technical support of sales, marketing, and educational initiatives. Jordi has been responsible for the launch of over 250 probiotic products in more than 90 markets worldwide.

Welcome to the 17th edition of the Panama Interview Series where we discuss topics regarding foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this edition we discuss the future of probiotics in Latin America with a focus on the Brazil Market.- The growth of the digestive health category has been a nutrition industry success story.- Ingredients with digestive health benefits now command very high levels of consumer awareness, and this is particularly true of probiotics.- The global probiotics market is projected to grow to $69 billion at a CAGR of 7.0% through 2023.- Functional foods and beverages are by far the biggest segment for probiotics, currently standing at $40 billion and representing more than 82% of the total market.- The LATAM region offers the most significant potential for growth of the functional foods industry over the coming years, lead mainly by the Brazilian Market. The market in Brazil is expected to witness above-average growth of approximately 8% over the forecasted period.

We are honored to have as our guests two business leaders in the Brazilian Health and Wellness Industry who have significant experience with the manufacture and sale of probiotic ingredients and consumer packaged goods:- Fernando Araujo, Gerente de Produtos Probióticos/Simbióticos na CINERGIS AGRONEGÓCIOS, and- Ronaldo Csizer, CEO of Performance Science Nutrition SA.

We look forward to their insights regarding the future of Probiotics in Latin America and the Caribbean and, specifically, the role that probiotics will play in the post-COVID economic recovery of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The FDA operates a mandatory safety program for all fish and fish products under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C), the Public Health Services Act, and related regulations.

FDA's program includes research, inspection, compliance, enforcement, disclosure, and regulatory development and guidance.

Although FD&C is not new, FDA’s regulations and its compliance priorities change over time in response to domestic and international economic and political factors.

Accordingly, Latin American seafood exporters need to regularly update their knowledge of FDA’s regulations and enforcement priorities.

To that end, in the 16th Edition of the Panama Interview series we will speak with Scott Zimmerman, CEO de Safe Quality Seafood Associates, LLC and Julio Maltez, Founder and CEO of V.C. Products inc. (a/k/a Ocean Gourmet).Safe Quality Seafood Associates, LLC is a U.S. federal regulatory consultancy that specializes in decoding new FDA laws, such as the Preventive Controls for Human Food (PCHF) and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) for the on the seafood industry. SQSA also works closely with directors, researchers and consumer safety officers across the United States to gauge our perspective on compliance with intent of the law.V.C. Products inc. (a/k/a Ocean Gourmet) is Panamanian seafood processor, exporter, and supplier of seafood products. For more than 20 years, Ocean Gourmet operated with the highest quality standards and has HACCP CERTIFICATION.

Please join us for the 15th Edition of the PANAMA INTERVIEW SERIES where we will discuss the new Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) and its potential to jump-start prosperity for the Americas. Our distinguished guest will be DANIEL F. RUNDE, the senior vice president, director of the Project on Prosperity and Development and Americas Program, the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.

"Addressing the Summit of Americas in 1994, President Clinton said, “Trade, with all its potential dislocations, is an undeniable reality . . . if we act wisely, if we make the new world of trade work for our people, then an aggressive strategy can not only produce new jobs, but once again begin to create a rising standard of living.” These words remain true today. To this end, APEP has provided an important starting point, and set of objectives to align around. However, the coming months and years will test whether the United States can forge a true economic partnership with the region, and deliver the concrete, innovative solutions needed to jump-start prosperity for the Americas."

Mr. Runde's work is oriented around U.S. leadership in building a more democratic and prosperous world. Among his many other contributions, Mr. Runde was as an architect of the BUILD Act, contributed to the reauthorization of the U.S. EXIM Bank in 2018, and was an architect of Prosper Africa, a U.S. government initiative to deepen the United States' commercial and development engagement in Africa. He has been a leading voice on the role and future of the World Bank Group and U.S. leadership in the multilateral system. Prior to CSIS, Mr. Runde held leadership roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank Group. Earlier in his career, Mr. Runde worked in commercial banking at Citibank in Argentina and in investment banking at Alex. Brown & Sons.

Please join us for the 14th Edition of the PANAMA INTERVIEW SERIES where we will discuss the report "Widening the Aperture: Nearshoring in Our Near Abroad" with its author RICHARD E. FEINBERG, the emeritus professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California, San Diego

"Rather than concentrating production facilities in one country (e.g., the United States), a better strategy to protect against supply disruptions is redundancy: to diversify sources among multiple suppliers and locations. Further, stockpiling as a form of insurance, whether by private or public entities, is the more efficient strategy both against sudden supply interruptions and demand surges. The Greater Caribbean Basin countries, many of which already participate in global value chains, are perfectly located solutions to these multiple challenges. Further, proximity can facilitate rapid retrofitting of factories to churn out urgently needed products."

Prof. Feinberg's four decades of experience in inter-American relations spans U.S. government service (at the U.S. Departments of Treasury and State, and as Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council), numerous New York and Washington-based public policy institutes, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Chile). Since 2005 he has reviewed over 300 books for the Western Hemisphere section of Foreign Affairs magazine. Among his most recent publications are Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy (Brookings Institution Press, 2016) and Nicaraguan Tragedy: From Consensus to Coercion (Wilson Center, Latin American Program, 2019). He holds a Ph.D. in international economics from Stanford University and a B.A. in European History from Brown University.

The Panama Interview Series explores topics regarding foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this edition we host Shannon K. O'Neil, Advisory Board Member for the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway.

On May 18 and 19, 2022, the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway convening will live stream from the Republic of Panama and focus on Latin America's economic future as the region rebuilds from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this live webinar, we aim to facilitate a broader conversation on the topic of the impact of climate change and supply chains on the post-covid economic recovery of Latin America. Please join us and participate in the discourse. Your voice matters!

Ms. O'Neil is the vice president, deputy director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a nonpartisan foreign policy think tank and membership organization. She is an expert on Latin America, global trade, U.S.-Mexico relations, corruption, democracy, and immigration.

O'Neil holds a BA from Yale University, an MA in international relations from Yale University, and a PhD in government from Harvard University. She was a justice, welfare and economics fellow at Harvard University, and a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and Argentina.**Shannon’s new book, The Globalization Myth: Regionalization and How America’s Neighbors Help it Compete will be published by Yale University Press. It chronicles the rise of three main global manufacturing and supply chain hubs and what they mean for U.S. economic competitiveness.

Welcome to the Panama Interview Series where we discuss topics regarding foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. We stream live from the capital city of the Republic of Panamá. The Panama Interview Series is produced by BICO Legal and Compliance Consulting, LLC, a Miami domiciled limited liability corporation with offices in Downtown Miami and Panama City, Panamá.

BICO provides international commercial and transactional legal and regulatory compliance advice and related services to manufacturers and brand owners that seek to boost profit and hedge domestic risk through international distribution in the USA and in Latin America and the Caribbean. My name is Anthony Robinson, and I am the Managing Member of BICO Legal and Compliance Consulting.

This trailer is a snip of the 13th Edition of the Panama Interview Series in which we discussed with Eduardo Cavallo, the Principal Economist at the IDB and Adjunct Professor of Advanced International Studies at SAIS, the 2022 Latin American and Caribbean Macroeconomic Report, which he co-authored with Andrew Powell.

We will discuss with Eduardo Cavallo, the Principal Economist at the IDB and Adjunct Professor of Advanced International Studies at SAIS, the 2022 Latin American and Caribbean Macroeconomic Report, which he co-authored with Andrew Powell.

The Report analyzes how Latin America and the Caribbean can move past the upheavals of the COVID-19 pandemic. It recommends policies to reduce vulnerabilities and to build a foundation for higher growth with more inclusive and sustainable economies.

“COVID-19 is a wake-up call to reform and change the status quo so we can arrive not at the old normal, but a new and better normal...There is no time like a crisis to shake up old ways and start anew on a more promising path—and that time is now.”

Join us and participate in a live discussion with one of the foremost experts on international finance, macroeconomics, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Eduardo Cavallo has published in several academic journals, and is the co-editor of the books “Building Opportunities for Growth in a Challenging World” (IDB, 2019); “A Mandate to Grow” (IDB, 2018); “Saving for Development: how Latin America and the Caribbean can save more and better” (Palgrave, 2016) and “Dealing with an International Credit Crunch: Policy Responses to Sudden Stops in Latin America” (IDB, 2009). He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and an MPP from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad de San Andres (UdeSA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.