JV
Joanna Villarreal
Embassy of Panama to France
Ambassador of Panama to France
Biography
Joanna Villarreal Rodríguez is an experienced Panamanian diplomat specializing in consular affairs, international governance, and the promotion of financial services. She joined Panama’s foreign service in 2005.
She holds a degree in international business and supply chain management from Texas Christian University (United States) and a law degree from ULACIT (Panama). She also holds a master’s degree in logistics from the University of Genoa (Italy), as well as training in negotiation at Harvard and in anti-money laundering. She has also completed the ENA’s “Leadership in Times of Crisis” program and participated in a workshop on international tax law at Leiden University. A polyglot, she speaks Spanish, English, Italian, and French. Throughout her career, she has held various positions at the Panamanian embassies to the Holy See, in Peru, and in France, as well as at the consulate in Genoa. In Lima, as a commercial attaché, she contributed to the negotiations for a free trade agreement and to the creation of the Peruvian-Panamanian Chamber of Commerce.
More recently, she served as Chargé d’affaires a.i. at the Embassy of Panama in France (July 2024–January 2025) and represented her country at the OECD and the BIE. She participated in the work of the FATF and the Group on Taxation of the Digital Economy.
Since 2016, she has played a central role in aligning Panama’s legal framework with international standards, notably through CANDSIF. She has also contributed to Panama’s efforts to join the OECD and to be removed from discriminatory lists.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she served as a ministerial advisor and coordinator of repatriation operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. As ambassador accredited to France, Monaco, and Liechtenstein, she has chaired the Network of Latin American Women Diplomats in France since 2025. In addition, she is a lecturer, columnist, and author.
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