Panamanian ambassador Eligio Salas III wrote to Việt Nam News on Panama's National Day.

On the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the Republic of Panama, I would like to extend our warmest greetings to all Panamanians living in Việt Nam and of course to our hosts for making us feel welcome so far from home.

In Panama the month of November is known as the “month of the homeland” because of the many significant anniversaries we commemorate all through it. Indeed, November 3rd, 1903, marked the establishment of the Republic and the birth of the modern nation of Panama.

A lot happened in the intervening years. The Panama Canal opened for maritime traffic in August 1914 and has fulfilled its promise as an international waterway for worldwide commerce and economic integration ever since.

On December 31, 1999, Panama took administrative control over canal operations in a seamless transition. With this transfer also came the great responsibility of maintaining the efficient and uninterrupted operation of the canal and the challenge of managing the international waterway successfully and responsibly, for the benefit of our people and the whole world. With this in mind, in June 2016, we were able to inaugurate a canal expansion making it possible for ships carrying up to 14,000 containers to transit the canal, with the result being that today 6% of global trade passes through Panama Canal.

In July this year, Panamanian official Arsenio Dominguez was elected as Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), effective from January 1st, 2024, for a 4-year term. We believe this to be a great acknowledgement of a life spent in the service of the maritime sector and is a source of considerable pride for our nation.

View of Casco Viejo (Old Quarter). Photo Courtesy of Panama's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Panama understands the threat to the environment posed by global warming. We depend to a great extent on the water resources our people need to survive, that our Canal needs to operate, and that the biodiversity that inhabits our rainforests needs to thrive, so we have taken measures to protect native communities, our water supply, and our forests. These efforts have resulted in the protection of 33% of our country’s territory. We have also taken steps to protect 30% of our marine areas, which makes us a blue world leader. All these efforts have led to Panama being recognised as one of only three countries in the world whose emissions are "carbon negative".

On this issue, I would be remiss if I did not mention that as a consequence of climate change, this year Panama suffered the effects of one of the most severe droughts in a century. This led to extreme reductions in the water levels of the lakes that feed the Canal. This in turn forced the canal administration to put in place reductions on the number of ships crossing the canal daily, from 36 to 32, but at no point were Canal operations suspended or otherwise affected.

Also, of note this year was the news that the Panamanian company Open Blue, dedicated to reprocessing bioproducts, exported 63 tons of fish flour to the Việt Nam market, marking the first of what we hope will be many exchanges of this kind in the future.

In the diplomatic and cooperation arena, H.E. Vladimir Franco, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama, took part in the signing of a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Panama and ASEAN in the framework of 43rd ASEAN summit which took place in Jakarta, Indonesia in the first week of September. Panama has always appreciated the support Việt Nam has shown us with regard to cooperation exchange with this regional forum.

Additionally, a high-level Vietnamese delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Health will be travelling to Panama from the 20th to the 25th of November to take part in the COP10 part of the WHO Global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Panama offers the best sea, air, and telecommunication connectivity to companies that would like to expand their position in Latin America. Through the Panama Canal and our ports if by sea, and the Hub of the Americas for air travel, you can connect to any place in the Americas within hours.

On August 28th this year, we commemorated the 48th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and Panama, and all through this time we have promoted and strengthened closer ties between our two nations.

Panama will continue to cooperate with Việt Nam in the bilateral and multilateral arena with the aim of strengthening our bonds and advancing our shared goals and interests of pursuing peaceful conflict resolution, human rights protection, and an open and fair trading system. VNS