Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) meets with Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on the sideline of the World Economic Forum's 47th annual meeting in Davos in January 2017 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his spouse will payan official visit to Vietnam from April 16-19 at the invitation of PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The visit looks to ratchet up cooperative fields of Sri Lanka’s interest,including trade, investment, telecommunications, fish farming, machinerymanufacturing, and the production of building materials.
The two sides’ leaders will discuss international and regional issues of sharedconcern.
Vietnam and Sri Lanka set up their diplomatic ties in 1970 and they havedeveloped a sound friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation through theexchange of high-level visits and the establishment of friendship associationsand bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
In recent years, trade between the two countries has grown significantly,reaching 192 million USD in 2015 and 325.6 million USD in 2016.
The two sides established a sub-committee on joint trade within the frameworkof their joint committee in August, 2014, and agreed on the early negotiationand signing of a preferential trade agreement, with the aim of accelerating commercialactivities.
The countries have identified investment promotion areas, with Vietnam’s garmentand textile, rubber, electricity-electronics, farm produce processing,foodstuff, and gem stone and jewelry making and Sri Lanka’s telecommunications,agriculture machinery manufacturing, aquaculture, oil and gas production, andplastics and construction materials making.
By the end of 2016, Sri Lanka had 15 operating investment projects capitalizedat
83.77 million USD inVietnam, ranking 48th among foreign investors.
The countries haveenjoyed productive collaboration in agriculture and fisheries with Vietnamhelping Sri Lanka with techniques, personnel training and plan design in aquaculture.Sri Lanka has favoured Vietnam in oil and gas production.
Sri Lanka has a richpool of experience in judicial matters and international law and is willing toassist Vietnam, especially in the application of the 1982 Convention on the Lawof the Sea. The countries signed agreements on education and justicecooperation.
The two countries have coordinated efficiently at regional and internationalforums. Sri Lanka has recognized Vietnam as a full market economy and affirmedsupport for Vietnam’s candidacy for a seat in the UN Security Council(2020-2021) and the UN Economic and Social Council (2016-2018).-VNA
VNA
