President Tommy Remengesau Jr. on August 22 nominated the current Honorary Consul to Vietnam to serve as Palau Ambassador.
Honorary Consul Nguyen San Mien Nhuan is the second non-Palauan nominated to an ambassador, the first was Rabih Reaidy, nominated as Palau Ambassador to UAE.
“HOG Nguyen’s long experience representing Palau in delivering on diplomatic priorities in Vietnam and South East Asia makes him more suitable for this job,” Remengesau stated in his letter to Senate President Hokkons Baules.
Remengesau said he is expanding Palau’s foreign allies, which include establishing a foreign diplomacy office in Taiwan.
Although an embassy will be established in Vietnam, no funding was earmarked in the fiscal year 2019 budget.
Nhuan is said to be willing to work for Palau with a $1 a year salary.
“I believe HOG Nguyen possesses the experience we need to strengthen our diplomatic corps which is why I seek support to confirm his appointment as the Palau Ambassador to Socialist Vietnam,” Remengesau said.
He also is confident that the Palau Embassy in Vietnam will serve as a gateway of the island nation to Southeast Asia.
He added that there is a need for an island nation like Palau to “engage Southeast Asia in this global political arena.”
The Senate is expected to vote on Nhuan’s nomination next week.
Last year, Remengesau accepted the letter of credence from H.E. Ly Quoc Tuan accrediting him as the fourth non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Palau.
In that acceptance of credence, Remengesau expressed Palau’s commitment to maintain and enhance “the bonds of friendship and solidarity with the Government of Vietnam.”
In an earlier press statement, the president said that “Palau is looking forward to work with Vietnam “to promote mutual cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, fisheries, and technology transfer, and to promote the welfare, peace, and security of the Asia Pacific Region.”
Also last year, an article in the Vietnam paper stated that Palau and the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang have signed a cooperation agreement on fishing and seafood consumption.
The document was reportedly inked on April 3, 2017, between Speaker of House of Delegates Sabino Anastacio and the Thai Hoa Trading Service Seafood Company based in Tan Phuoc district.
The article was quoted as saying that the agreement is for “local economic potential and investment opportunities in fishing, seafood processing and export, industrial trees and tourism development.” (Bernadette H. Carreon)