Sri Lanka, Vietnam to expand cooperation in new areas

Friday, 19 July 2013 04:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka and Vietnam have considered expanding and intensifying cooperation in new areas such as aviation, tourism and aquatic products to complement the existing ties in national defence and security, as well as trade and investment. The talks on bilateral cooperation took place when Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, who is on an official visit to Hanoi, met the Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang early this week for discussions. Expressing Sri Lanka’s gratitude to Vietnam for its support to Sri Lanka in the areas of human rights and territorial sovereignty, the Speaker noted the success of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries and the need for further enhancement of those ties.

The Vietnamese President, commending Sri Lanka’s achievements in socio-economic development, noted that Vietnam and Sri Lanka had cooperated and backed each other in regional and international forums. Noting improvements in two-way trade, which had hovered at US$ 1 billion in recent years, the President recommended that the two countries intensify exchanges of delegations at all levels as well as beef up the implementation of signed deals. The Sri Lankan Speaker also met the Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung on Monday (15 July) and held discussions. Speaker Rajapaksa thanked Vietnam for its support of to Sri Lanka in regard to national construction and reconstruction and Vietnam National Assembly leader affirmed his country’s consistent policy of attaching importance to developing the traditional friendship and multifaceted co-operation with Sri Lanka. The Vietnamese legislative chief expressed his hope that Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa’s visit would further tighten the relationship between the two countries. He noted that while Vietnam and Sri Lanka had cultivated ties in economics, trade and investment, the ties have not reached their full potential yet. Vietnam wished to step up cooperation with Sri Lanka in areas related to both countries’ strengths and needs such as agriculture, aquaculture, infrastructure development, culture, education and national defence and security, Hung noted. The National Assembly chief expressed hope that Sri Lanka would share its experience in applying international laws to several fields, including addressing trade disputes and ensuring maritime security and safety. He said Vietnam was willing to share its experience in national construction and reconstruction. Hung congratulated Sri Lanka on its significant achievements in maintaining peace, stability, national concord and reconciliation as well as the triumphs in its efforts in national construction and reconstruction. Both countries agreed to further enhance the friendship and cooperation between the two legislative bodies. They agreed to work closely with each other in supervising the implementation of agreements reached by the two governments and to create a favourable legal environment that would boost trade and investment for both countries. Thanking Sri Lanka for backing Vietnam as the host of the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union scheduled for 2015, the legislative chief said he hoped that Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa would lead a high-ranking delegation to the event. The two sides will also increase the exchange of delegations and other groups in order to share their experiences in parliamentary and legislative activities, while also agreeing to consult each other at multilateral forums.