Press Release
A new Minister of Foreign Affairs has been appointed
On December 2nd, 2020, President Laurentino Cortizo appointed Erika Mouynes as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, replacing Dr. Alejandro Ferrer who had been in the role since July 1st, 2019.
Erika Mouynes has bachelor’s degre in Law and Political Science from the University Santa Maria la Antigua in Panama, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Latin American University of Science and Technology, both magna cum laude. She has a Master in Corporate Law from New York University and a Master in International Law from the University of California, Berkley. She also obtained a postgraduate degree in Business and Finance from the University of New York as a Fullbright Fellow.
She has over 10 years of work experience in law, busines and government in both New York and Panama. In New York, she worked for more than a decade in structuring infrastructure projects with multilateral agencies and in complex investment negotiations in European and Latin American financial markets. Between 2013 and 2017 she was the Chief Legal Officer of the Investment Fund with the management of a portfolio of billions of dollars based in New York, Fintech.
During the period 2007 to 2013, she was a Senior Lawyer in Project Finance at the firm Shearman & Sterling, LLP. In Panama, she practiced law in several law firms in the corporate and litigation areas and in 2004 she was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
In 2019, she was appointed as Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation of the Foreign Ministry. She has been honored with numerous international awards, including the Association of Corporate Counsel's Best Global General Counsel Award in 2015, and is a member of various global outreach boards such as Kangu (Maternal Health in Africa).
Her official biography in spanish can be accessed here.
The original press release in spanish can be accessed here.