Sri Lanka, Vietnam hold first political consultations in 5 years

The Third Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Vietnam Political Consultations was held recently in Colombo at a senior official level.

The Sri Lanka delegation was led by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary Sumith Nakandala and the Vietnamese delegation was headed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Đang Đình Quý.

Sri Lanka and Vietnam reaffirmed their commitment to further consolidate and advance bilateral political and economic cooperation.

A wide range of matters in areas of mutual collaboration and ongoing programs in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, education and training, trade and investment, culture and tourism were reviewed and discussed.

The two sides stressed the importance of continuing to work together at regional and multilateral fora to advance shared interests and address mutually important issues.

Deputy Minister Đang Đình Quý also called on Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana on 11 April.

An MoU between the foreign ministries of Sri Lanka and Vietnam, signed in October 2011, paved the way for enhancing bilateral cooperation through political consultations. The first and second meetings of political consultations between Sri Lanka and Vietnam were held in 2012 in Colombo and 2013 in Hanoi, respectively. Senior officials of the two foreign ministries and other line agencies also participated in the meeting.