Vietnam and Panama are entering a new phase of bilateral cooperation with opportunities to deepen their ties and turn their long-standing friendship into more substantive and effective collaboration, Vietnamese Ambassador to Mexico and Panama Nguyen Van Hai told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the occasion of Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino’s upcoming official visit to Vietnam.
Hai noted that the visit is particularly significant as the first high-level exchange between the two countries in nearly 15 years, following then-President Ricardo Martinelli’s visit to Vietnam in 2012, and came shortly after the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025.
The two countries have maintained close friendship and cooperation despite geographical distance, while strengthening coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums. Recent high-level diplomatic contacts, including the meeting between the two foreign ministers on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the Philippines in July and the second political consultation in Vietnam later that month, demonstrated the importance attached to the visit.
According to the ambassador, the visit could create momentum in three key areas: translating shared political orientations into concrete programmes and projects; expanding economic, trade and investment cooperation in agriculture, banking, telecommunications, infrastructure, maritime transport and education; and establishing a stronger legal framework through cooperation agreements expected to be signed during the visit.
He stressed that effective follow-up will be crucial, with relevant agencies making full use of existing mechanisms such as political consultations and the Joint Commission on Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation.
Regarding economic ties, the ambassador said that the two economies have complementary strengths. Vietnam has growing manufacturing and export capacity, while Panama possesses a strategic location, the Panama Canal, major ports, logistics facilities and leading international trade services.
According to Vietnam Customs, bilateral trade reached 478.1 million USD in 2025, up 19.2% year-on-year. Vietnam exported 462.6 million USD worth of goods to Panama, mainly footwear, phones and components, computers and electronics, textiles, transport equipment and seafood.
However, bilateral trade accounted for less than 0.1% of Vietnam’s total trade and around 3% of Panama’s in 2025, indicating substantial room for expansion.
The diplomat highlighted Panama’s potential as a gateway for Vietnamese goods to Latin America and the Caribbean, noting that the Panama Canal connects more than 180 shipping routes, around 170 countries and 1,900 ports worldwide. He called for stronger business-to-business links, trade facilitation, investment promotion and regular business forums.
Hai also underscored the need to broaden ties through parliamentary diplomacy, people-to-people exchanges and cooperation among localities and businesses. The two sides could strengthen exchanges between legislative leaders and committees, while establishing bilateral friendship parliamentarians’ groups and promoting cooperation in logistics, maritime affairs, agriculture, tourism, education and digital transformation.
At the multilateral level, he said Vietnam and Panama shared common interests in upholding multilateralism, free trade and international law. The two countries should step up cooperation on global issues, including climate change response, environmental protection, food security, sustainable development, maritime safety and transnational crime combat. They should also further strengthen consultation, coordination and mutual support at the United Nations, while serving as bridges to help each other expand cooperation with regional organisations such as ASEAN and APEC in the Asia-Pacific, and CELAC and SICA in Latin America and the Caribbean.
People-to-people diplomacy should also be strengthened through student and academic exchanges, Spanish-language education, cultural events, tourism and youth activities. The ambassador said regular cultural weeks, tourism promotion and joint travel programmes could help people of the two countries better understand each other.
He stressed that the goal should not simply be to increase the number of events, but to create more opportunities for people, businesses and localities to establish direct and substantive connections. Stronger mutual understanding will provide a solid social foundation for stable, sustainable and long-term Vietnam-Panama relations.
