Vietnamese President lauds victory over terror
Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet highly appreciated and lauded
the bravery and bold steps taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the
Sri Lankan Security Forces to defeat LTTE terrorism. He commended the
well orchestrated democratic humanitarian mission to rescue the innocent
civilians held hostage by the LTTE.
The Vietnamese President accepted with sincere appreciation the
invitation extended by his Sri Lankan counterpart to visit Sri Lanka.
President Rajapaksa speaking on the occasion said he was happy to be
in Vietnam as the first Head of State of Sri Lanka and recalled that Sri
Lanka and Vietnam had its roots in cultural, religious and historical
links dating back to many centuries.
He noted that substantive discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart
at the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit and the high level
representation by Vietnam at the recently concluded Asia Cooperation
Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting held in Colombo were fruitful and
cordial.
President Rajapaksa also recalled with great pride that Sri Lanka was
one of the very first nations to recognize the Provisional Revolutionary
Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and later following
reunification, the Vietnamese nation.
President Rajapaksa further recalled history to remind that Sri Lanka
was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the 1970s.
He also extended his deep appreciation to the Vietnamese Government
for the steadfast and moral support during Sri Lanka’s battle against
terrorism, especially in the multilateral fora.
“Vietnam firmly backed Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in
Geneva when attempts were made by certain parties to discredit the true
and good image of Sri Lanka,” stressed President Rajapaksa.
With the emergence of a new Sri Lanka combined by the dawn of peace,
bilateral trade between the two countries could be further enhanced, he
added.
Being impressed by the rapid economic progress made by Vietnam,
President Rajapaksa noted that Vietnam was one of the fastest growing
economies in South East Asia.
He suggested that the agricultural and fisheries sectors be given
more focus in the bilateral trade relations to further increase the
trade turnover.
He pointed out that with the dawn of peace, Sri Lanka has ushered a
new era and opened opportunities for trade and investment and added that
the Government has already earmarked new Free Trade Zones in the former
conflict zones of Kilinochchi and Trincomalee.
Explaining investment opportunities now on offer, President Rajapaksa
stated that ambitious development projects like Uthuru Vasanthaya and
Negenahira Navodaya bear testimony to it.
The Vietnamese President noted that Vietnam appreciated the
solidarity that Sri Lanka demonstrated during Vietnam’s struggle against
colonialism. Having signed several important agreements between the two
Governments, the Vietnamese President exclusively focused his attention
towards the Cooperation Agreement on Prevention and Combating Crime, and
hailed it as a vital instrument strengthening regional security and
internal security of the two countries.
He pledged to further stabilize mutual understanding, confidence and
trust between the two nations to progress further towards attaining all
goals envisaged in the agreements entered into yesterday and with better
prospects for the future.
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