President of the Republic of Panama José Raúl Mulino (second right) and his wife, Maricel Cohen De Mulino, arrive in Hà Nội on Monday afternoon, beginning their four-day official visit to Việt Nam. VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Anh

HÀ NỘI — President of the Republic of Panama José Raúl Mulino and his wife, Maricel Cohen de Mulino, arrived in Hà Nội on Monday afternoon, beginning a four-day official visit to Việt Nam at the invitation of Party General Secretary and President Tô Lâm and his wife.

Welcoming the Panamanian delegation at Nội Bài International Airport were Minister of Education and Training Hoàng Minh Sơn, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Đặng Hoàng Giang and Vietnamese Ambassador to Mexico and Panama Nguyễn Văn Hải.

Minister of Education and Training Hoàng Minh Sơn (right) welcomes President José Raúl Mulino, his wife and the Panamanian delegation at Nội Bài International Airport. VNA/VNS Photo

Accompanying Mulino and his wife on the official visit to Việt Nam are Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Eduardo Martinez-Acha Vasquez, Minister of Agricultural Development Roberto Linares, Minister for Canal Affairs Jose Ramon Icaza and Panamanian Ambassador to Việt Nam Nubiela Ayala Modes.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Ambassador Hải emphasised the significance of the visit as the first high-level exchange between the two countries in nearly 15 years, following then-President Ricardo Martinelli’s visit to Việt Nam in 2012. He added that the visit comes shortly after the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025.

The two countries have maintained close friendship and cooperation despite their geographical distance, while strengthening coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums. Recent high-level diplomatic contacts, including a 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 Việt Nam later that month, demonstrated the importance both sides attach to bilateral relations.

Ambassador Modes said the visit demonstrates the growing importance Panama attaches to Việt Nam as a key partner in Southeast Asia and opens up opportunities to strengthen cooperation in trade, maritime affairs, logistics, investment and people-to-people exchanges.

More importantly, the visit conveys a strong message of friendship and a shared commitment to building an increasingly close and dynamic bilateral relationship in the years ahead, she noted.

Regarding Panama’s role in helping Vietnamese businesses access Latin American and Caribbean markets, Modes said the country’s greatest advantage is that it serves not only as a potential market in its own right, but also as a strategic platform connecting global trade with Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Panama Canal, the country's seaports and logistics infrastructure, the Colon Free Trade Zone and extensive international connectivity provide favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to expand their distribution, logistics, trade and investment activities across the region, she said.

For Việt Nam, this could help businesses strengthen their presence in Latin American and Caribbean markets, while Panama could benefit from Việt Nam's dynamism, manufacturing capacity and increasingly important role in Southeast Asia.

The Panamanian ambassador described Việt Nam as an important partner and a natural bridge for Panama to strengthen its ties with ASEAN, expressing her country’s hope to deepen dialogue, promote closer interaction between business communities and institutions, and identify practical opportunities to bring Southeast Asia and Latin America closer together.

In this regard, Panama and Việt Nam have the potential to become complementary gateways between the two dynamic regions, opening up new opportunities for trade, investment, connectivity and long-term cooperation.

On maritime cooperation amid growing disruptions and uncertainties in global supply chains, Modes said Panama and Việt Nam share a strong interest in the stability, efficiency and resilience of global maritime trade.

This creates important opportunities to strengthen cooperation in port management, logistics, maritime transport services, maritime training, digital transformation and the sharing of best practices, she noted.

To help prevent disruptions to global supply chains, the two countries could further cooperate in port coordination, information sharing, digital connectivity, maritime safety, cybersecurity and contingency planning. Closer collaboration among maritime authorities, ports, shipping lines and logistics service providers could improve forecasting, minimise delays and strengthen responses to disruptions along international trade routes.

Regarding cultural and tourism exchanges, the ambassador said Mulino’s visit will provide an important opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation and political dialogue, enhance mutual understanding and translate the friendship cultivated over more than five decades into new areas of strategic and practical collaboration. — VNA/VNS