The Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Ambassador of Panama Elijio Alberto Salas De León held a meeting, where they both express their wishes to strengthen their diplomatic relationships, by stepping up cooperation in all aspects, from political cooperation, to trade, investments, agricultural and finances.

The diplomatic and economic relationship between the two nations has been going strong for 46 years, with the trade exchange exponentially increasing over the years, from 74 million in 2006 to over 300 million in 2020, making Vietnam one of the most important economic allies, here we will cover some of the most fruitful achievements of this relationship.

The multilateral relationship started in 1975 when Panama and Vietnam signed a memorandum for the establishment of diplomatic relationships between these two nations, it was 4 years later that Panama receive its first official visit by prime minister H.E. Pham Van Dong, where both sides discussed the future of their relationships, this visit proved to be very fruitful because just a few months later Vietnam was the first country to adhere to the neutrality treaty of the Panama Canal.

In 2002 the relationships between the two countries achieve an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic visas, as well as consular and especial passports, providing an important exchange of visitors between the two nations, 2008 a memorandum of understanding on agricultural development was reached, this allowed Panama to learn from Vietnam’s food production and learn from what has worked best for them. In 2012 Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli made the first official visit to the country of Vietnam where there was a memorandum to foster cooperation’s in tourism and culture, the second one establishes the framework for consultations on political matters between both parties. In June 2019 an agreement was signed for the exemption of visa, meaning that anyone with a regular Panamanian passport could go to Vietnam as a tourist for up to 30 days, the same agreement was granted to Vietnamese tourists that wanted to come to Panama.

Some of the products that are imported to Panama from Vietnam are computer and electronic accessories, clothing, shoes, petroleum, food such as frozen seafood, rice, coffee, wood, and agricultural machinery. In return Panama export to Vietnam coal, meat, plastics, iron, steel, aluminum, wood, and other materials.

This bilateral cooperation also allows both countries access to their respective markets, that way Panama allow Vietnam to have access to the Latin American market thanks to Panama being the biggest logistical hub in Latin America as well as having the Colon free zone, which is the biggest free zone in the western hemisphere, this allows Vietnam to have a good platform to sell their products to other Latin American countries, the same way Vietnam allow Panama access to the ASEAN market, which is an economic union of southeast Asian nations made up of 10 countries with an approximate market of 649.1 million people.

The strengthening of the diplomatic and economic relationship between the two nations is a very important step in fostering and assuring mutual support and cooperation going forward.