Panama City, 22 September 2026 (IICA) – A new academic institution aimed at training young talent to transform Panama’s agricultural sector was inaugurated by the country’s President, José Raúl Mulino, at a ceremony attended by the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Muhammad Ibrahim.
The Center for Specialized Agricultural Studies (CEAGRO AIP) will provide specialized higher technical education for the productive sector.
The presentation ceremony was attended by 100 scholarship recipients from different parts of the country who make up the institution’s first cohort of students.
The launch of the center reflects Panama’s commitment to preparing young people for the future of food, fiber, and energy production. Its objective is to provide educational and professional development opportunities that will help young people remain in rural areas through more modern agriculture linked to new technologies and evolving consumer demands.
During the ceremony, Panamanian authorities highlighted IICA’s contribution to the creation of CEAGRO AIP, a process in which the Institute provided its expertise in agricultural education, capacity building, innovation, and new technological frontiers applied to agriculture.
“It gives me great satisfaction to welcome its first 100 young people, from all of Panama’s provinces and indigenous regions, who arrive with a dream and an opportunity to build their future in agriculture,” said Mulino.
The Panamanian President emphasized that CEAGRO AIP is open to young people seeking an opportunity to build a life in agriculture through their own efforts. In this regard, he stated that the new institution’s training programs are designed to respond to the real needs of the labor market and create opportunities for young people to join the productive sector.
Of the first 100 students, 70% are graduates of agricultural high schools and 30% of science-oriented high schools, with equal participation by men and women, according to information provided.
Ibrahim, accompanied by IICA Representative in Panama, Miguel Ángel Arvelo, said that CEAGRO AIP could become a model for other countries in the Americas and highlighted Panama’s ability to quickly and efficiently transform an innovative idea into a concrete, operational initiative.
“This experience will help demonstrate that it is possible to build new models of agricultural education that integrate technical knowledge, innovation, digital tools, new technologies, entrepreneurship, and a direct connection with the productive needs of the territories,” stated the IICA Director General.
CEAGRO AIP will implement an educational model based on the principle of “learning by doing,” with a curriculum consisting of 40% theoretical content and 60% practical experience, enabling students to gain early exposure to production processes, technology, innovation, and real-world problem solving.
The training program will last two years and will focus on strategic areas related to agricultural production, agribusiness, agricultural business management, technologies applied to agriculture, mechanization, and aquaculture.
Connecting scientific capabilities
During his visit to Panama, Ibrahim met with Minister of Agricultural Development Roberto Linares, with whom he identified opportunities to deepen joint efforts. Linares is Chair of the IICA Executive Committee, one of the Institute’s main governing bodies, a position to which he was elected this year by a vote of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas.
The IICA Director General also visited the Regional Center for Innovation in Vaccines and Biopharmaceuticals (CRIVB AIP), a Panamanian initiative with a strong regional focus. In discussions with the Center’s Director, Paulina Franceschi, and her team, they explored opportunities for collaboration and joint efforts that would leverage IICA’s capabilities, its presence in the countries, and its international cooperation network to contribute to the Center’s development and expand its reach throughout Central America and the Caribbean.
One of the main topics discussed was the possibility of IICA helping to forge partnerships with scientific institutions, international organizations, universities, and research centers, as well as identifying opportunities for researchers and specialists from countries in the region to participate in initiatives related to innovation in vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
The visit also opens up a particularly promising opportunity to connect high-level scientific capabilities with some of the major challenges shared by agriculture, health, and rural territories.
For IICA, the new technological frontier makes collaboration among disciplines, institutions, and countries increasingly necessary in order to harness science and innovation to deliver concrete solutions. In this regard, CRIVB represents an opportunity to establish, from Panama, a scientific cooperation platform with regional impact.
The IICA Director General’s agenda in Panama also included a meeting with Indonesia’s Ambassador to the country, Hendra Halim, with whom he discussed potential cooperation activities in agricultural matters, particularly cocoa, rice, oil palm, coffee, coconut, and teak, as well as natural disaster management.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
