(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) President José Raúl Mulino, while visiting Japan, defended Panama's“unwavering” position on the Canal's neutrality and sovereignty this Friday, agreeing with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to strengthen their cooperation to improve its operation. “I am pleased to see the importance Japan places on our Canal and also the respect Japan has for international seas. Therefore, I have conveyed to the Prime Minister Panama's unwavering position regarding the canal's neutrality and respect for our country's sovereignty, just as Panama respects the sovereignty of all countries in the world,” he declared at a joint press conference in Tokyo. The president made this indirect reference to the tension surrounding the Canal since President Donald Trump returned to power in the United States, who has threatened to“recover” this important waterway.

Japan is the third-largest user of the Panama Canal in the world after the United States and China, and has significant public-private interests in it. The Japanese Prime Minister agreed with Mulino on continuing to advance cooperation projects such as the construction of Metro Line 3, the largest yen-denominated loan in Latin America and the Caribbean, and on revitalizing political and economic consultations between the two countries. Ishiba expressed his“respect for the fact that Panama plays key roles in the international community under President Mulino's leadership,” such as its non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council this year and the rotating presidency of SICA, the Central American Integration System, with which Japan celebrates its Year of Friendship in 2025. The Panamanian president is scheduled to travel to Osaka this Friday to participate in the Panama National Day celebrations on Saturday at the World Expo currently taking place in that city in western Japan.

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