Colombian President Alvaro Uribe praised Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, "for his frankness, executive capability, defense of freedom and private initiative".

When speaking about the project to interconnect the power grids of Colombia and Panama, he said that "we have taken a great step, an agreement with Panama to build this interconnection. ... We expect to have the service working in 2013. It has a very important aspect: almost 70 kilometers run undersea. This will be an example for the entire region, and could be the cornerstone of a system called Caribbean Circle: an underwater line from Colombia to Dominican Republic, to Puerto Rico, Haiti, Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico, linking to the Puebla-Panamá Plan".

And when he referred to the financial and trade relations between both countries, he emphasized: ".... It has to be an integral treaty: free trade, investment promotion and security and double taxation. Should we do it this way, it could become a reference for the entire region".