Sri Lanka - Vietnam economic ties reach new heights

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Ha Noi facilitated a 20-member Vietnamese business delegation to visit Sri Lanka last week. This business interaction was arranged consequent to the visit by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Vietnam in April this year. At the bilateral talks held between the two Prime Ministers an agreement was reached to achieve annual bilateral trade of $1 billion within the next few years.

The business delegation was led by Vietnam Ministry of Industry & Trade Deputy Director General Do Huu Huy and consisted of members from large Vietnamese conglomerates from various fields such as agriculture, power generation, food and beverage, electrical and electronic products, dairy products and other industries.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce functioned as the local host of the visiting delegation by organising briefing sessions in Colombo. Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Vietnam Hasanthi Dessanayake and Veitnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Phan Kieu Thu were special guests at these sessions, where a presentation was made on Opportunities in Sri Lanka for Trade.

Prior to the visit of this high level business delegation, the Vietnamese national television station Nhan Dan TV sent a media crew to Sri Lanka from 3 to 10 August 2017 with the intention of producing a documentary on the present dynamics in Sri Lanka’s investment, business and tourism environment. The media team conducted an interview with President Maithripala Sirisena on the rapidly expanding bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Vietnam.