The Vietnam - Panama Business Forum themed "Connecting Markets - Creating Opportunities" convened on October 7, during the official visit to Vietnam by Panama President José Raúl Mulino.
Coming after the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the event serves as a launchpad to elevate economic, trade, and investment ties from simple commercial exchanges into deep global supply chain integration.
The forum witnessed a strategic signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP), observed directly by President Mulino.
Highlighting the complementary nature of the two economies, VCCI Vice President Nguyen Quang Vinh emphasized Vietnam’s role as a dynamic, highly open economy deeply embedded in global manufacturing networks. Vietnam brings strength in diversified industrial manufacturing, electronics, textiles, footwear, and agricultural exports across Southeast Asia and broader Asia.
Conversely, President Mulino highlighted Panama as the “nexus of the world,” boasting a strategic maritime gateway through the Panama Canal connecting roughly 1,800 sea routes and nearly 1,920 ports across 170 countries. With modern port infrastructure, dollarized monetary stability eliminating exchange rate risks, and high credit ratings, Panama operates as Latin America's primary logistics and distribution hub.
President Mulino stressed that the two nations do not compete; rather, combining Vietnam’s manufacturing capacity with Panama’s ocean connectivity builds an ideal, highly sustainable economic model.
Detailing the strategic vision, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan noted that two-way trade reached $478.1 million in 2025, up 19.2 percent year-on-year. While positive, the figure remains modest relative to untapped potential.
Connecting Vietnam’s regional market access with Panama’s maritime reach opens access to Latin America and the Caribbean’s 600-million-consumer market via the Colón Free Trade Zone - the world’s second-largest free trade zone.
In return, Vietnam provides Panama a gateway to ASEAN’s 700-million-consumer market.
Minister Ngo Van Tuan proposed three strategic focus areas: diversifying bilateral trade across complementary sectors, establishing maritime logistics and distribution as a strategic breakthrough, and fostering two-way investment in digital economy, fintech, smart logistics, green energy, and high-tech agriculture.
Aligning with this direction, President Mulino encouraged major Vietnamese corporations to establish regional headquarters in Panama to benefit from preferential tax policies, fast-track visa processing, and legal stability.
He confirmed Panama’s readiness to partner with Vietnam to establish distribution centers for electric vehicles and auto parts across Latin America, participate in semiconductor packaging, and adopt Vietnamese expertise in sustainable rice production.
To convert vision into practical outcomes, Minister Ngo Van Tuan urged key execution steps: maximizing the Joint Commission on Economic, Trade, and Investment Cooperation to resolve operational hurdles, utilizing the VCCI-CCIAP MOU for continuous market intelligence sharing, and prioritizing concrete high-value investment projects.
VCCI Vice President Nguyen Quang Vinh reaffirmed that VCCI will actively accompany businesses from both nations to facilitate market access, partner matching, and long-term project realization following the forum.
Google translate