Sri Lanka can be bridge to trade with South Asia -Vietnamese PM

WALTER JAYAWARDHANA

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said he hoped Sri Lanka would serve as a bridge for Vietnam's economic, trade and investment cooperation with South Asian countries.

Receiving Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in Hanoi the Vietnam Prime Minister said, "Vietnam supported Sri Lanka's efforts to stabilise national security and social order and fight terrorism in the name of national construction and development."

Trade circles hope that the trade and investments between Sri Lanka and Vietnam would open the huge Indian and Pakistani markets to the Vietnamese products due to the very liberal trade agreements Sri Lanka has established with the two South Asian giants, India and Pakistan.

The Vietnam Prime Minister further said, Vietnam and Sri Lanka should intensify co-operation to reap more practical benefits for both sides.

PM Dung said he was pleased to see good development in the two countries' rapport and said he hoped the visit would help boost bilateral co-operation. Citing recent growth between the two countries the PM added that both bilateral trade and co-operation in other fields had grown in recent years, but the potential of the two countries had not been fully tapped.

Bilateral trade topped US$61 million in 2008, marking a 4 per cent year-on-year increase.

The Vietnamese leader said he appreciated Sri Lanka's socio-economic development achievements, particularly its high economic growth rates over the recent years, which helped raise the country's per capita income to the highest level in South Asia.

Vietnam supported Sri Lanka's efforts to stabilise national security and social order and fight terrorism in the name of national construction and development, the PM said.

He added that he hoped Sri Lanka would serve as a bridge for Vietnam's economic, trade and investment co-operation with South Asian countries.

FM Rohitha Bogollagama told the PM about the results of his talks with Deputy PM and FM Pham Gia Khiem, during which they agreed to boost relations in trade and investment to match the two countries' potential, and expand co-operation to other fields such as agriculture, education, culture, sports and tourism for the mutual benefit of both countries.

They also agreed to further co-operation between the two countries at international and regional fora, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the United Nations.