24 June 2016 12:00 am
Governments of Sri Lanka and Vietnam agreed to establish close cooperation in agriculture, technology-related to rice and other common crops.
Both leaders, President Maithripala Sirisena and Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngyuyn Xuan Phuc reached this decision during the bilateral discussions held at the Nagoya Tokyu Hotel last month.
President Sirisena invited Vietnamese entrepreneurs to invest in Sri Lanka and Vietnamese prime minister said that his country wanted to enhance bilateral relations in many fields including agriculture, industry, trade and investment.
He pointed out that the annual value of trade had risen to US $ 200 million; there are plenty of opportunities for further expansion.
Vietnamese prime minister, recalling his earlier meeting as the deputy prime minister, thanked Sri Lanka for working in close coordination with Vietnam in regional and international forums.
Expressing Sri Lanka’s contribution for security of sea lanes, he said the two countries could closely cooperate in further ensuring the safety and security of the sea lanes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.
President Sirisena, recalling his early visits to Vietnam as Agriculture Minister, said that he highly appreciated the tremendous development in Vietnam in agro-technology. “Sri Lanka could benefit from sharing such technical knowhow,” he said.
President also invited the Vietnamese premier to visit Sri Lanka. The prime minister accepting the invitation expressed his pleasure and promised to visit Sri Lanka at the earliest available opportunity.