Carmen Gisela Vergara


Carmen Gisela Vergara is a Panamanian lawyer and politician, who served as Secretary General of The Secretariat of Central American economic integration from July 2013 to June 2017. She also served as Panama's Minister for Business and Industry from 2008 to 2009, being promoted from Deputy Minister.

Education and career

Vergara studied law and political science. She then graduated with a master's degree in banking and finance from the Externado University of Colombia before completing post-graduate studies at the University of Santiago, Chile.
After completing her studies, she returned to Panama. She worked at a state bank before establishing Pro-Panama, an organisation which dealt with commercial law. Under the Ministry of Business and Industry, she served as the first national director for attracting investment and promoting exports. She then became Deputy Minister for Business and Industry, participating in negotiations to secure a free trade agreement with the United States, before being promoted to Minister on 1 April 2008. Vergara then moved to Honduras to serve as Panama's representative at the Central American economic integration bank.
She was appointed Secretary General of the Guatemala-based SIECA on 1 July 2013, choosing to focus on issues such as economic equality and gender equality, including preventing violence against women.

Personal life

Vergara has a daughter, Isabel, who was 15 years old in April 2017.