President José Raúl Mulino received a delegation from the Japan Shipowners Association at the Presidential Palace on Monday. The delegation expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with Panama in various aspects of the maritime sector, which plays a leading role in the economies of both nations and is key to bilateral relations.
The meeting took place a week after President Mulino received members of the Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), the leading organization of Japan's private sector.
This is also the second meeting between President Mulino and the leadership of the Japanese shipping association. In September 2025, during the president's official visit to Tokyo, they discussed the modernization of the Panamanian ship registry.
The delegation was headed by the president of the Japan Shipowners Association, Hitoshi Nagasawa, who was accompanied by directors Yasuhiro Shinohara, Kumiko Iwasa, Keiichi Tada, and Daijiro Mizushima.
President Mulino was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javier Martínez Acha; the Minister of Canal Affairs, José Ramón Icaza; the Panamanian Ambassador to Japan, Walter Cohen; the Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), Luis Roquebert; and the Director General of the Merchant Marine, Ramón Franco.
President Mulino indicated that Panama is interested in closer ties with major Japanese shipping companies regarding technical cooperation and collaboration with the Maritime University of Panama (UMIP), with the goal of increasing the number of Panamanian seafarers obtaining jobs on Japanese vessels.
He also reviewed the portfolio of megaprojects that the Panama Canal Authority is preparing, with a view to putting them out to tender starting next year. These include the construction of new ports, a gas pipeline, and the Río Indio multipurpose reservoir, whose purpose is to produce water for human consumption and for transits through the interoceanic waterway.
Nagasawa, for his part, acknowledged the importance of Panama to Japan's economic security. In 2025 alone, a total of 1,072 Japanese vessels transited the Panama Canal, many of them carrying gas cargo.
The businessman emphasized that, for his industry and for Japan, the gas pipeline project and the Río Indio project are crucial to ensuring the efficient operation of the Canal.
He also acknowledged President Mulino's leadership in his plan to modernize Panama's logistics, maritime, and services platform. In this regard, he expressed his expectation of expanding cooperation with Panamanian authorities to address common industry challenges.
Robban Assafina is now on WhatsApp channel. Click Here
