Hai, who was on a working visit to Colombo from March 19-22, congratulated Sri Lanka on its gradual stabilization under the leadership of the new government, with macroeconomic recovery and growth exceeding 4%. He said he believes that Sri Lanka will achieve its socio-economic development goals and soon become a key development centre in the Indian Ocean region.

The legislator expressed joy over the continuous growth of Vietnam – Sri Lanka relations over the past 55 years, and emphasized that the two countries have built a strong foundation of historical ties, political trust, and warm friendship.

Amarasuriya for her part expressed admiration for Vietnam’s remarkable socio-economic development achievements. She highly appreciated Hai’s suggestions, particularly the need to enhance high-level delegation exchanges and resume the implementation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms in 2025, including the resumption of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation.

Both sides agreed to further strengthen economic, trade, and investment cooperation, aiming to achieve a bilateral trade turnover of US$1 billion as soon as possible. They also considered the early negotiation and signing of a free trade agreement and the possibility of establishing a direct flight route to facilitate trade, tourism, and exchanges, maximizing each country's potential and strengths.

Amarasuriya affirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to creating favourable conditions for long-term Vietnamese investments in priority sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure, services, tourism, and retail.

The two sides also agreed to deepen cooperation in other potential fields such as tourism, education and training, cultural and religious exchanges, and people-to-people diplomacy.

Given the complexities of global and regional developments, Amarasuriya noted that mutual trust and shared viewpoints serve as a foundation for the two countries to enhance cooperation and support each other in multilateral forums, particularly within the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.

The PM reiterated Sri Lanka’s request to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN and expressed hope that Vietnam would support and assist Sri Lanka in this endeavor, based on the strong friendship between the two countries.

Sri Lanka forms parliamentary friendship group with Vietnam

The Sri Lanka-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group has officially been launched by the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka.