(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – The newly appointed Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ho Thi Thanh Truc presented her credentials to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House Yesterday(30).
President Rajapaksa and the new Vietnamese Ambassador then exchanged views on the current bilateral relations and the future development cooperation.
Offering congratulations from the Vietnamese government and people to the President, Ms. Thee Thane Truck said that Vietnam has given top priority to relations with Sri Lanka.
The Ambassador commended Sri Lanka for its support during the difficult period her country faced. The Ambassador said during her tenure, she would do everything possible to further strengthen cooperation and friendship between the two countries.
Appreciating the long standing friendship between Vietnam and Sri Lanka, the President briefed the Ambassador on his government’s socio-economic vision. “Agro-economy development, poverty alleviation and raising the income of the rural people are some of our priorities,” he said.
Plans are now in place to achieve that goal President Rajapaksa said. Their ultimate goal is to achieve a more satisfying standard of living for all social strata such as low-income, middle-income, rural and urban, he added.
“We do not look at development from a racial point of view. We consider the people as a whole,” the President said.
President Rajapaksa said that farmers from all communities have benefited from the high prices guaranteed for their crops while providing subsidies for paddy and other agricultural crops. He said that after the defeat of the separatist war, no one was killed in terrorist violence and that great development was possible in the country.
The President requested Vietnam to identify and take advantage of the investment opportunities in the Sri Lankan economy, pointing out that trade and tourism between the two countries could be further developed.
The Vietnamese Ambassador assured that she would give high priority to encouraging Vietnamese businessmen to invest in Sri Lanka and to develop trade and tourism. Diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Vietnam were established on July 21, 1970.
