Elevating bilateral cooperation to new heights
During the visit, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai and the delegation held meetings and talks with senior leaders of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan leaders affirmed that they always attach great importance to the long-standing traditional friendship with Viet Nam, expressing admiration and appreciation for Viet Nam’s achievements in economic development.
At the meeting with Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Jagath Wickramaratne, Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai emphasised that Viet Nam always remembers the valuable support from Sri Lanka during the country’s struggle for reunification and continues to nurture the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Sri Lanka.
Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne highlighted that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka have maintained diplomatic relations for 55 years, marked by high political trust and warm friendship between the two peoples.
“These are favourable conditions for the two countries to further strengthen cooperation across various fields,” he stated.
Both sides agreed to enhance delegation exchanges and high-level as well as other levels of contact, promote people-to-people exchanges, and organise practical activities to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations.
They also stressed the importance of increased cooperation between the two national assemblies in the context that both Viet Nam and Sri Lanka are striving to meet their socio-economic development goals. The two parliaments should strengthen collaboration and share experience, especially in institutional building and legal system development to support digital economy and society. The two sides also exchanged and shared experiences in developing policies to support ethnic minorities in remote areas, environmental protection, and sustainable development.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, the Prime Minister expressed her strong impression of Viet Nam’s remarkable socio-economic development and appreciated the views shared by Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai, particularly the emphasis on increasing delegation exchanges, resuming bilateral cooperation mechanisms in 2025, including the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, to review and set future cooperation directions. She also supported the continued review and signing of new cooperation agreements in potential areas.
Prime Minister Amarasuriya stressed that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka share many similarities on regional and international issues. In the context of complicated developments in the global and regional landscape, mutual trust and aligned perspectives provide a solid foundation for closer cooperation and mutual support in multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.
She reiterated Sri Lanka’s proposal to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN and expressed hope that Viet Nam would support and assist Sri Lanka in this process based on the good friendship between the two nations.
During talks between Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Rizvie Salih, the latter underscored the significance of 2025 as the year marking the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Building on the strong foundation of the past 55 years, both sides agreed that this is a favourable time to inject new momentum into bilateral relations.
Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai commended the Sri Lankan Parliament for establishing the Sri Lanka–Viet Nam Parliamentary Friendship Group, and proposed that the two parliaments consider signing a memorandum of cooperation. He also encouraged increased exchanges, meetings at various levels, including between high-level leaders, committees, and friendship groups, and experience sharing in institutional building and legal development to facilitate economic growth in both countries.
Joint efforts to soon achieve US$1 billion in two-way trade
During the meetings, both sides also agreed to further promote economic, trade, and investment cooperation, aiming to soon reach a two-way trade volume of US$1 billion. Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai proposed that both countries explore the possibility of signing a bilateral free trade agreement, establish communication and business dialogue channels, expand trade and investment promotion activities, implement the 2024–2026 Agricultural Development Cooperation Work Plan, and develop a Fisheries Cooperation Work Plan. He also highlighted the importance of opening direct flight routes to foster economic and trade exchanges, thereby maximising the potential and strengths of each country.
Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai also suggested that Sri Lanka adopt preferential policies to encourage Vietnamese enterprises to strengthen trade and investment cooperation in Sri Lanka. In response, Deputy Speaker Rizvie Salih affirmed that Sri Lanka views Viet Nam as a model for development and international integration, and looks to Viet Nam’s experience in expanding cooperation, attracting foreign investment, and developing its manufacturing sectors.
Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne noted that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka share similarities in development, with Viet Nam having advanced in several sectors, particularly agriculture, through technological application, which has helped boost production and exports. He expressed hope that Viet Nam would share its experience in economic integration, foreign investment attraction, and agricultural development.
Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai shared Viet Nam’s experience in agricultural development, including the OCOP (One Commune One Product) model, and invited Sri Lanka to send a delegation to Viet Nam for more detailed exchange in this field.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya also affirmed that Sri Lanka would create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest long-term in Sri Lanka, especially in areas where Sri Lanka has demand and Viet Nam has strengths such as agriculture, infrastructure, services, tourism, and retail. Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in other potential areas such as tourism, education and training, cultural and religious exchanges, and people-to-people diplomacy.
Later, during meetings with Sri Lanka’s Minister of Trade Wasantha Samarasinghe and Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne, Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai proposed that the two sides soon exchange ministerial-level delegations and schedule the 3rd session of the Joint Trade Cooperation Committee to concretise the discussions held during the visit. This includes sharing experiences in economic development, agriculture, trade, digital transformation, and exploring the possibility of a bilateral free trade agreement.
According to the programme, during the official visit to Sri Lanka, Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai and the National Assembly delegation will also visit and work with the National Audit Office of Sri Lanka. At this meeting, Deputy Auditor General Bui Quoc Dzung will present insights into the operations of the State Audit Office of Viet Nam and discuss orientations for cooperation between the Supreme Audit Offices of Viet Nam and Sri Lanka.