{"60210":{"#nid":"60210","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Extends Global Reach with Panama Logistics Innovation and Research Center","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPanama is edging closer to its longtime ambition\nof becoming a trade hub for the Americas \u2014 with key assistance from the Supply\nChain \u0026amp; Logistics Institute (SCL), a unit of Georgia Tech\u0027s Stewart School\nof Industrial and Systems Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EUnder an agreement negotiated with the Panamanian\ngovernment, SCL will establish and operate a Logistics Innovation and Research\nCenter (PLIC) in Panama by the fall of this year. The center\u0027s activities will\nbe built around three main areas: applied research, education and\ncompetitiveness.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe center will gather data pertaining to\nlogistics and trade and develop analytics to facilitate showing the value and\ncapabilities of Panama. This knowledge base will also drive educational\nprogramming in logistics for students and professionals. In addition, the\ncenter will facilitate stronger industry and infrastructure linkages, leading\nto new logistics services and jobs. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWith its strategic location, multi-modal\ntransportation access, and deep-water ports situated on each coast,\n\u0022Panama is a natural place for a trade hub,\u0022 said SCL Executive Director\nDon Ratliff. \u0022It is well suited for free enterprise growth with convenient\nair and sea transportation to the rest of Latin America, has an outstanding\nfinancial district, and good commercial development infrastructure.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd there\u0027s the canal, presently undergoing a\nmulti-billion-dollar expansion. When completed in 2014, the waterway\u0027s capacity\nwill be doubled and allow much bigger cargo ships.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There\u0027s a lot of entrepreneurial spirit in\nPanama,\u0022 said Jaymie Forrest, SCL\u0027s managing director. \u0026nbsp;\u0022Panama is poised for economic growth in\nthe area of logistics and supporting services.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA bilingual workforce is another plus, she added,\nalong with Panama\u0027s Colon Free Zone, a manufacturing, warehousing, and\nre-export center that is the second-largest free-trade zone in the world after\nHong Kong.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBut for all of Panama\u0027s hard assets, it lacks the\nhigh level of integration necessary for trade-hub status. There is lack of\nlogistics services and supporting infrastructure such as public warehousing,\ntemperature controlled faculties, logistics technology and the human capital\nexperienced in supply chain operations. This is a good opportunity for Georgia\nTech to transfer knowledge and apply value. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA value assessment to determine priorities in\nterms of infrastructure improvement will be one of the center\u0027s top orders of\nbusiness. Ongoing improvements in logistics and the application of relevant new\ntechnologies will ensure Panama\u0027s competitiveness and build its stature as a\ntrade hub.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBesides the immense economic advantages for\nPanama, a world-class trade hub, there is also expected to provide new\nopportunities for U.S. companies serving the logistics industry and, perhaps\nmost importantly, boost American exports.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We manufacture more products by value than\nany other country in the world,\u0022 said Ratliff. \u0022Many of these\nproducts are exportable, but they\u0027re made by small- and medium-size enterprises\nthat simply don\u0027t have the capabilities to export to small countries.\u0022 Nor\nis it economically worthwhile for these companies to develop and maintain\nindividual trade relationships with separate Latin American countries\nrepresenting markets of just four or five million people each, he added. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETypically, government-sponsored trade assistance\nis limited to marketing and does not address logistics needs, transportation,\nvalue-added product-support services and a host of other topics that constitute\nthe practical demands of international trade. The Panama Center will be\ndesigned to meet these needs while providing, in effect, a single point of\naccess for these smaller markets.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If we\u0027re going to increase exports, which\neveryone believes is a good idea, then we have to make it so that exporting to\na number of small countries is the same as exporting to one large\ncountry,\u0022 Ratliff explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the largest research group in the world focused\non supply chain and logistics, SCL is the ideal partner for Panama\u0027s trade-hub\ndevelopment. In recent years, SCL has leveraged its traditional expertise to\nembrace issues surrounding international trade. \u0026nbsp;SCL founded The Logistics Institute (TLI)\nAsia-Pacific in 1998 at the request of the government to improve logistics\neducation. Based in Singapore, the center supports Singapore\u0027s Asian trade hub\nwith research, education, and consulting expertise in global logistics and\nsupply chain management. The learning\u2019s from TLI-Asia Pacific offers a template\nfor Panama in many ways. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Central America, SCL established a regional\npresence in 2009 with its Trade-Chain Innovation and Productivity Center, which\nopened in Costa Rica to support increasing trade exports and improving\nlogistics performance while supporting some of the countries strategic initiatives\nand planning investments.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Panama center is expected to serve as a springboard\nfor logistics innovation and research throughout the Americas, according to\nForrest.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESCL\u0027s emerging leadership role in international\ntrade also dovetails with Georgia Tech\u0027s 25-year strategic plan, which calls\nfor leveraging Tech\u0027s global engagement as a means of securing a larger\ninternational footprint. Logistics was identified as one of four high-potential\nindustry sectors warranting particular emphasis in research and industry\npartnerships. The other sectors are energy, healthcare, and transportation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022What Panama wants to do and what we want to\ndo are very compatible,\u0022 Ratliff said. \u0022They have all the right parts\n-- we\u0027ll help bring them all together.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPanama is edging closer to its longtime ambition\nof becoming a trade hub for the Americas \u2014 with key assistance from the Supply\nChain \u0026amp; Logistics Institute (SCL), a unit of Georgia Tech\u0027s Stewart School\nof Industrial and Systems Engineering. Under an agreement negotiated with the Panamanian\ngovernment, SCL will establish and operate a Logistics Innovation and Research\nCenter in Panama by the fall of this year. \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Extends Global Reach with Panama Logistics Innovation and Research Center"}],"uid":"27328","created_gmt":"2010-07-26 09:38:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:11","author":"Edie Cohen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"60139":{"id":"60139","type":"image","title":"New Logistics Innovation and Research Center in Panama","body":null,"created":"1449176253","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:33","changed":"1475894520","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:00","alt":"New Logistics Innovation and Research Center in Panama","file":{"fid":"191067","name":"PanamaCountry_Map2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PanamaCountry_Map2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PanamaCountry_Map2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":108899,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PanamaCountry_Map2_0.jpg?itok=I7xLb5B_"}},"60242":{"id":"60242","type":"image","title":"Cargo ship travels through Panama Canal","body":null,"created":"1449176253","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:33","changed":"1475894523","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:03","alt":"Cargo ship travels through Panama Canal","file":{"fid":"191084","name":"Cargo_in_canal.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cargo_in_canal_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cargo_in_canal_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":265303,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cargo_in_canal_0.jpg?itok=yX8yXJxu"}}},"media_ids":["60139","60242"],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"426","name":"isye"},{"id":"10306","name":"Panama"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:barbara.christopher@isye.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBarbara \nChristopher\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIndustrial and Systems Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404.385.3102\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}