Jacksonville Port Authority has renewed an agreement with the Panama Canal Authority pledging to continue working to market the advantages of shipping cargo between Asia and JAXPORT through the Panama Canal.

Signed earlier this week by Brian Taylor, JAXPORT CEO, the deal is a renewal of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the parties entered into in 2010.

The partnership helps maximize the economic opportunity created by the recent Panama Canal expansion, according to JAXPORT.

“We have spent the past decade preparing our port for the future growth of volumes through the canal. This MOU underscores our focus on ensuring that the cargo industry takes advantage of Jacksonville’s unparalleled connections, infrastructure and proximity to both populations and manufacturing centers in the Southeast U.S. and beyond,” a JAXPORT representative said.

Under the earlier signed deal the parties agreed to undertake joint marketing activities, data interchange, market studies, modernization and improvements, as well as training programs and technological interchange.