Call for enhanced Lanka-Vietnam ties

VIETNAM: Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake on Monday called for enhanced relations between Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Delivering an address at the official dinner hosted by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister Wickremanayake said: "My fervent hope is that we could look forward to an era of expanded cooperation between our two countries, building upon the bilateral, historic and political relations we enjoy. We shall continue to strengthen our links as we jointly face the opportunities and challenges of the future."

The Prime Minister said: "We hold your country in high esteem for its determination and heroic effort in defending national independence and achieving national reunification. The sacrifices made by the people of Vietnam have not gone in vain.

Today, Vietnam has emerged as a vibrant nation and joined the family of ASEAN and APEC. Vietnam also plays a significant role in global matters related to peace and development.

We are impressed by the achievements made by Vietnam over the recent decades. Since liberation the move forward on the path of development was rapid particularly under the Doi Moi policy during the last 20 years with the guidance of your visionary leaders. During my short stay, I look forward to seeing for myself some of your impressive accomplishments.

Today we watch with admiration Vietnam's economic achievements including the high growth in investments, increasing exports and the improving of the living standards of the people. We applaud the determination of the Vietnamese government to continue in this direction in the coming years.

Our relations with Vietnam formed through Buddhism can be traced back to many centuries. People of Sri Lanka were solidly behind and supportive of the freedom struggle of the Vietnamese people.

Sri Lanka prides itself of being one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the early seventies.

Recently both countries marked the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Our ties have been further strengthened with the establishment of the Sri Lanka Embassy with a Resident Ambassador in Hanoi from 2003.

I am hopeful that, with these milestones, our relations will be further expanded into multifaceted areas, particularly in the trade and economic fields for the mutual benefit of our two peoples.

We can also look towards cooperation in areas such as transfer of technology, promotion of tourism and cultural relations, where we can share ideas and resources.

For our part even on a modest scale, we are extremely happy to share with Vietnam, our experiences through the Technical Cooperation Programme "Hands Across Asia" of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs where Sri Lanka offers technical assistance and training to our friendly neighbours in South and South East Asia.

It is indeed satisfying to note that officials from Vietnam have participated in almost all the human resource training programmes conducted by the Technical Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the past five years at selected centres of excellence in Sri Lanka."