President Tô Lâm stated that Vietnam places significant importance on elevating bilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka to a higher level.
He emphasized the need to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the areas of economy, security and politics.
The Vietnamese President also highlighted the importance of expanding high-level engagements, including exchanges between government representatives as well as people-to-people interactions, in order to deepen bilateral ties and cooperation.
Statement by President Tô Lâm of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
It gives me, together with the high-level Vietnamese delegation accompanying me, great pleasure to visit the beautiful and hospitable land of Sri Lanka, often referred to as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean.” I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Your Excellency, the Government and the people of Sri Lanka for the warm, gracious and heartfelt welcome extended to us.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Your Excellency the President and the Government of Sri Lanka on the achievements you have attained, particularly in your economic journey. We are pleased to witness the progress that has been made in improving the living standards of the people of Sri Lanka. The positive transformation taking place in your country, which possesses a bright and promising future, is clearly evident to us and we are confident that Sri Lanka will soon realise its development aspirations.
We held highly successful discussions. For more than 55 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, our two countries have built a long-standing friendship founded upon mutual trust and cooperation, which we greatly value. We also discussed further measures to strengthen this partnership and explored the many opportunities that exist between Viet Nam and Sri Lanka.
We focused particular attention on areas of mutual importance and shared interest in order to elevate our countries to greater heights. Both sides are committed to enhancing a broad-based partnership. We share a common vision on regional and global issues and we recognised that this is a timely opportunity for Viet Nam and Sri Lanka to elevate bilateral relations to a new level. In this spirit, President Dissanayake and I agreed to upgrade Viet Nam–Sri Lanka relations to a Comprehensive Partnership.
It is essential that we further strengthen economic, political and security cooperation between our two nations. Accordingly, we agreed to reinforce political, defence and security cooperation based on mutual trust, understanding and respect. We also agreed to strengthen ties among political parties, governments, parliaments and peoples, while promoting high-level exchanges and maintaining bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
In taking forward these initiatives, we have identified targets to enhance bilateral trade. Both sides agreed to take swift measures to achieve the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover to US$1 billion by strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, energy, science and technology. We also agreed to work towards a future bilateral agreement on trade and investment. Vietnamese entrepreneurs are prepared to expand their investments in Sri Lanka, with the aim of contributing to the country’s socio-economic development while creating strategic and symbolic projects that further strengthen ties between our two nations.
At the same time, we should continue exploring avenues to strengthen educational, cultural, religious and people-to-people exchanges. Our two countries share a long-standing historical and cultural bond, founded upon education, tourism and interpersonal connections. We are grateful for the respect shown by Sri Lanka towards President Hồ Chí Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese nation and a globally revered cultural figure. We look forward to continuously promoting these noble cultural and spiritual values among the peoples of both countries.
We also discussed new avenues of cooperation to enhance air connectivity and establish improved Viet Nam–Sri Lanka aviation links. This will serve as an important milestone in paving the way for stronger cooperation across many sectors.
In particular, we also focused on issues that require international attention, including regional peace and stability. We emphasised the importance of ensuring freedom and security of maritime navigation, in accordance with international law. We reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability, the rule of law and the freedom of navigation and over-flight in seas and oceans, including the East Sea.
Through this Comprehensive Partnership, we can look forward to broader and more sustainable cooperation in the future. Together, we can create greater peace, prosperity and development for the people of our two nations.
Mr. President, once again, I wish to thank you and the people of Sri Lanka for the warm welcome and generous support extended to us.
