A few weeks ago I had the chance to travel to Panama with two key people from the Echo Technologies team: Ana Garzona, our Commercial Executive, and Rocío Serpas, our Panama Executive. The reason was EXPOCOMER 2026, the largest international trade fair in Central America and the Caribbean, organized by the Panama Chamber of Commerce at the Panama Convention Center.
Honestly, I knew the event was big. But when we arrived and saw the real scale, hundreds of companies from over 30 countries, entire national pavilions, executives, entrepreneurs, financial institutions, airlines and governments, I realized we were exactly where we needed to be.
El Salvador, present and with a lot to show
We participated under the official El Salvador, Land of Opportunities pavilion, alongside other Salvadoran companies that were also there to prove our country has talent, technology and vision. That alone already filled us with pride.
What we presented was not a generic catalog. We showed the real technological advances we are building from El Salvador: IBS core banking integrations, AS400 modernization with modern APIs, IBM MQ middleware for enterprise system communication and aeronautical solutions with Airsoft. Cutting-edge technology, built by a Salvadoran team, being used by companies across the region.
The conversations around that were excellent. People are surprised when they hear that these kinds of complex integrations are being done from El Salvador, and that reaction, that mix of surprise and respect, is exactly the narrative we want to change.
Alliances formalized, business growing
One of the concrete outcomes of the event was formalizing alliances with companies where we already had advanced conversations. It was not just business-card networking. It was the kind of meetings where decisions get made, visions get aligned and the path forward gets defined together.
Among the meetings we valued most was connecting in person with Leafsinc and Adidas, two clients we are already doing business with. Seeing those relationships face to face, in a setting like EXPOCOMER, gives everything a different weight. It is one thing to talk over video calls and another thing entirely to shake hands and say “we are doing this right, let us keep going.”
What Panama taught us
If there is one thing I take away clearly from this trip, it is that Panama is not just a destination, it is a connector. It is a natural bridge between North and South America, between the Caribbean and the Pacific, between companies looking to scale and markets that need solutions. Being there with Echo Technologies was not an expense. It was an investment in visibility, credibility and relationships that will keep generating results.
And most importantly: we reaffirmed that we are going in the right direction. The regional market needs exactly what Echo Technologies knows how to do. Now it is just about continuing to execute.
If you want to learn more about what Echo Technologies is doing in the region or explore a potential alliance, reach out. There is always a good conversation to be had.
Luis Rugamas, CEO of Echo Technologies