Lanka, Vietnam ties further strengthened

Proposes direct flights between two countries :

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

Sri Lanka can become another Singapore. Vietnam should not ignore the great potential Sri Lanka has, Vietnamese ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh said.

He was speaking at a seminar on 'Exploring potentials of Sri Lanka - Vietnam Economic Cooperation' in Colombo yesterday.

The ambassador said re-opening the Vietnamese embassy and the Vietnamese President's visit to Sri Lanka last year, further strengthened the relationship between the two countries.

He stressed on three main issues - economic potential of Sri Lanka and Vietnam, current status of economic relations between the two countries and innovative measures to boost economic cooperation between the two countries.

The ambassador said the two countries have signed 25 agreements of which 17 are for economic cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, oil and gas and machinery.

He also said awareness among the people of the two countries about Vietnam and Sri Lanka is poor. "Connectivity is another problem as there are no direct flights although it takes only four to five hours air travel between the two countries," the ambassador said.