Loading... please wait
erikam 220x220 - H.E. Erika Mouynes

H.E. Erika Mouynes

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Panama

Bio Current as of July 11, 2022

Her Excellency Erika Mouynes is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama. She has extensive experience as both a public servant and top private sector executive. Prior to being appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mouynes served as Panama’s Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation (2019) and Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (2004) in two administrations. She was instrumental in negotiating the US-Panama Free Trade Agreement and various multi-lateral project finance and investment partnerships across the telecom, logistics, mining, oil and gas sectors.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mouynes assembled and led a team of Panamanian experts to successfully develop the country’s vaccine portfolio and secure doses for its entire population, ahead of most of Latin America. Minister Mouynes’ post-pandemic priority is to facilitate regional political dialogue and strengthen Panama’s presence in multilateral forums, focusing on irregular migration and the pressing climate crisis. Prior to her role in government, Minister Mouynes worked at a leading global law firm in New York. She also managed the business and legal affairs of a multi-billion-dollar investment company in her role as Chief Legal Officer. Mouynes has served on the board of several publicly traded companies, as well as women-focused not-for-profit organizations. A Fulbright scholar with three postgraduate degrees, Minister Mouynes holds an LLM in Corporation Law from New York University, an LLM in International Law from University of California at Berkeley and a postgraduate degree in Business and Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.