Sri Lankan PM begins official visit to Vietnam

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his spouse began an official visit to Vietnam on April 16 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe inspect the guard of honour at an official welcoming ceremony for the latter in Hanoi on April 17 (Photo: VNA)

The visit, which will last until April 19, aims at encouraging bilateral cooperation in fields of Sri Lanka’s interest, such as trade, investment, telecommunications, aquaculture and seafood processing, machinery manufacturing and construction materials.

The two sides will also take the occasion to discuss international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Vietnam and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations in 1970.

The Sri Lankan Embassy was opened in Hanoi in 2003, while Vietnam reopened its embassy in Colombo in 2011.

In recent years, trade between the two countries has grown significantly, reaching US$192 million in 2015 and US$325.6 million in 2016.

The two sides established a sub-committee on joint trade within the framework of their joint committee in August, 2014, and agreed on the early negotiation and signing of a preferential trade agreement, with the aim of accelerating commercial activities.

By the end of 2016, Sri Lanka had 15 operating investment projects capitalized at US$83.77 million in Vietnam, ranking 48th among foreign investors.

(Source: NDO)