President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s State visit to Vietnam from May 4–6 will open a new chapter in the bilateral cooperation in the coming years, bringing benefits to the two nations while contributing to peace, cooperation, development, and prosperity in the region and the world, Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trinh Thi Tâm said.
In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of the visit, Tâm said that the visit, to be made at the invitation of State President Luong Cuong, will be the first by a Sri Lankan Head of State to Vietnam in 16 years.
This will also be the first trip to Vietnam by President Dissanayake since he took office in September, 2024, demonstrating the special importance the Sri Lankan leadership places on the traditional friendship with the Southeast Asian country. He had already made State visits to India and China, two of Sri Lanka’s close allies.
Traditional friend
From Vietnam’s perspective, the visit reaffirms the respect for Sri Lanka as a traditional friend and important partner in South Asia, Tâm said, stressing that as the two countries are celebrating their 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations, this will be a good chance for them to reflect on the partnership and establish new directions for the relations in the new global situation.
The trip will feature various activities, covering the pillars of politics, economy, and culture, with the highlight being high-level talks and meetings as well as the signing of important cooperation documents. Incidentally, Vietnam is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and the unification of Vietnam this month.
During his stay in Vietnam, President Dissanayake will also participate as a guest of honour and speaker at the opening ceremony of the 20th United Nations Day of Vesak celebrations in Ho Chí Minh City from May 6–8, demonstrating the deep Buddhist and cultural connections between the two countries. The UN is officially celebrating Vesak on a proposal made by the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
The diplomat expressed her optimism about the future trajectory of bilateral ties, elaborating that Vietnam and Sri Lanka have enjoyed a robust traditional friendship, with the Sri Lankan Government across different periods having prioritised strengthening and developing relations with Vietnam. The two countries have also relaxed visa regulations for each other’s citizens.
The two countries will promote cooperation in areas of their strengths such as agriculture, fisheries, culture, education, tourism, and Buddhism, based on existing cooperation documents and established mechanisms to achieve concrete and substantive results.
Reciprocal tariffs
According to Tâm, Vietnam and Sri Lanka will enhance collaboration in important areas that have recently been affected by external factors, including trade, investment, defence, security, people-to-people exchanges, manufacturing, heritage conservation, and information technology. Analysts said that Vietnam and Sri Lanka will be subject to US “Reciprocal Tariffs” exceeding 40 percent if trade negotiations do not succeed during the 90-day pause.
The two countries will explore expanding cooperation in new fields such as Customs, pharmaceuticals, logistics, renewable energy, electronics, electric vehicles (Vietnam’s domestic electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast is already exporting its vehicles to many regions including North America), archaeology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), e-commerce, digital economy, green economy, digital transformation, innovation, local cooperation, and air and maritime connectivity to broaden their cooperation space and adapt to regional and international situations. There is a proposal by SriLankan Airlines to begin direct flights to Vietnam.
The two countries will coordinate more closely and effectively at multilateral forums, especially the UN, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and the ASEAN Regional Forum as responsible partners, thereby enhancing the role and position of each country, she added.
Historical milestones
Reflecting on the diplomatic journey so far, Ambassador Tâm traced the bilateral relations back to their consular ties set up in 1964 and the formal establishment of diplomatic relations in 1970, 55 years ago. Despite historical upheavals, including periods when Vietnam had to temporarily close its embassy in Colombo, both countries have maintained regular exchanges of high-level visits and established institutional frameworks for cooperation.
Despite historical challenges, bilateral cooperation has flourished through regular high-level exchanges and institutional frameworks.
The late Vietnam President Ho Chí Minh (after whom the Ho Chi Minh City is named) visited Sri Lanka three times between 1911 and 1946 and today remains one of the few foreign leaders honoured with a statue in Colombo, Tâm said.
Vietnam and Sri Lanka have set up three key mechanisms at Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial levels and signed over 30 Cooperation a Agreements spanning trade, defence, agriculture, culture, and education.
Despite remaining modest, two-way trade has been at a relatively stable level of around US$ 300 million per year. Currently, Sri Lanka has about 30 projects in Vietnam with an investment capital of over US$ 40 million. Culture, Buddhism, and people-to-people exchanges are becoming strengths and potentials in the bilateral cooperation. Besides, the Vietnamese community in Sri Lanka is growing, currently numbering about 150, making contributions to the socio-economic development of the host country. Some of them are long-term residents of Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Tâm outlined several priority areas for strengthening bilateral cooperation. She advocated leveraging both countries’ coastal positions to develop agriculture, fisheries, and ocean resources. With tourism representing another promising sector, Tâm recommended direct flights and more streamlined visa processes to boost cultural and spiritual tourism exchanges.
For trade advancement, she suggested joint ventures focused on third-country exports and transshipments to reduce production costs, transport time, and tariffs, while urging Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and improved connectivity to facilitate trade.
The Ambassador also highlighted education and technology cooperation as essential for addressing shared challenges through Research and Development (R&D) and innovation.
Renewable energy collaboration is a potential area, she said, adding that solar and wind projects will not only strengthen the bilateral relationship but also contribute to addressing global challenges such as Climate Change which is becoming an existential threat to developing coastal nations.
(Vietnam News Service)
