In his speech at the press briefing, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said he was pleased to welcome To Lam and his high-level Vietnamese delegation on their visit to Sri Lanka, which reflects the importance Vietnam attaches to Sri Lanka as a traditional friendly partner in South Asia.

He said the visit would help strengthen the traditional friendship and further elevate bilateral cooperation for the benefit of the two nations’ people, as well as for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The visit also provided an opportunity for the two sides to comprehensively review bilateral cooperation in recent years and identify concrete directions and measures to elevate bilateral relations to a new level, he continued.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake hailed Vietnam’s development achievements and expressed confidence that the country would continue developing strongly under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

He stressed that Vietnam and Sri Lanka share longstanding traditional friendly relations, adding that the Sri Lankan people have always held deep respect for President Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese nation and an eminent cultural figure.

Dissanayake expressed his hope to continue augmenting cooperation with Vietnam in areas with strong potential for cooperation, while expanding cooperation in culture, education, religion and people-to-people exchanges to further consolidate bilateral ties.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen multilateral cooperation and maintain close coordination on regional and international issues of shared concern for peace, stability, cooperation and development.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also thanked the Vietnamese Government for meaningful and practical gifts presented to Sri Lanka.

In response, the top Vietnamese leader expressed his thanks to the Sri Lankan President, government and people for the warm, respectful and cordial reception given to the high-level delegation of the Party and State of Vietnam.

He congratulated the Sri Lankan President and the coalition government on their important socio-economic achievements, including efforts to gradually restore and return Sri Lanka to a path of development while continuing to improve people’s living standards. He also expressed confidence that Sri Lanka would soon achieve its development goals.

The two sides had held highly successful talks and greatly valued the durable friendship, trust and mutual support the two countries have built over more than 55 years of diplomatic relations.

They share common visions on regional and global affairs and agreed that, at this important juncture, Vietnam and Sri Lanka are seeing growing opportunities and shared interests to elevate bilateral relations to a new level,  To Lam went on.

Host and guest also concurred to elevate Vietnam-Sri Lanka relations to a Comprehensive Partnership and pledged to continue to consolidate and strengthen friendly cooperation, establish political trust at a higher level, and expand the scope and level of cooperation in a comprehensive and substantive manner across all areas.

They consented to deepen political, defence and security cooperation on the basis of trust, mutual understanding and mutual respect, while further intensifying high-level exchanges and contacts through Party, State, parliamentary and people-to-people channels, as well as maintaining regular bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

Both sides will step up cooperation in economics, trade, investment, agriculture, energy and science and technology in a substantive and mutually beneficial manner, while implementing breakthrough measures to soon achieve the target of US$1 billion in bilateral trade and work towards a future bilateral trade and investment agreement.

To Lam welcomed Vietnamese airlines’ plans to open direct air routes between the two countries, saying this would mark a breakthrough in connectivity and create favourable conditions for stronger cooperation across a variety of fields.

Sri Lanka holds official welcome ceremony for Vietnam’s top leader on State visit

VOV.VN - Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake presided over an official welcome ceremony for Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and a high-level Vietnamese delegation in Colombo on the morning of May 8 as part of the top Vietnamese leader’s state visit to the East Asian nation.

Vietnam’s top leader arrives in Colombo for state visit to Sri Lanka

VOV.VN - General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and State President To Lam and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation arrived in Colombo on the evening of May 7 (local time), for a two-day state visit to Sri Lanka at the invitation of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.