PANAMA CITY, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal will be sworn in as Panamanian president Wednesday with a five-year term.

    Martinelli was born in Panama on March 11, 1952. In 1973, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Arkansas, the United States. He later earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica.

    He served as director of the Social Security from 1994 to 1996 in the government of then President Ernesto Perez Balladares. From September 1999 to January 2003, during the presidency of Mireya Moscoso, he served as minister for canal affairs and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Authority.

    Martinelli is currently chairman of the board of Panama's Super 99 supermarkets chain and chairman of two other companies. He also sits on the boards of at least eight other companies.

    He is married to Marta Linares, an insurance agent, and has three children.