On the 31 October 2019, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Viet Nam Prasanna Gamage met with, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ha Noi Dr. Nguyen Duc Chung at the Headquarters of the People’s Committee of Ha Noi.
At the outset, assuring his fullest support and cooperation, the Chairman conveyed his best wishes to the Ambassador for a successful tenure in Ha Noi. The Chairman requested that the Ambassador Gamage convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to the people of Sri Lanka. He recalled his successful visit to Sri Lanka in 2014, during which he was able to understand the huge potential in bilateral cooperation in the areas viz. agriculture, education, trade and investment, culture and tourism. The Chairman stated that Buddhism could be used as the most effective avenue in furthering cultural relations and building people to people contacts between the two countries, given the strong Buddhist cultural heritage being shared. He stated that he was fortunate to visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy in 2014 and for his experience of the rituals being performed there. The Chairman also said that he visited the Colombo Public Library to pay respects to the bust of late President Ho Chi Minh, established at the forefront of the Library.
The Chairman said that Sri Lankan cultural troupes should visit Viet Nam in 2020 during the celebration of 50 years of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, for which he would extend his fullest support. Acknowledging the fact that there are no direct air linkages between the two countries, the Chairman expressed his confidence that VietJet Airlines of Viet Nam would be able to commence flights between Ha Noi and Colombo next year, which would greatly increase movement of people between the two countries for tourism, trade and investment.
Ambassador Prasanna Gamage thanked the Chairman for reemphasizing importance of bilateral cooperation and said that the Government of Sri Lanka would extend its full cooperation through the Embassy in enhancing relations. The Ambassador said that Sri Lanka has a lot to learn from Viet Nam on the best practices being adopted in high-tech agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries sectors. He revisited the important decisions made at the recently concluded bilateral meeting on Sub-Committee on Trade and said that those decisions, including Work Plan on Agriculture Cooperation for 2020 – 22, should be fully implemented. The Ambassador assured the Chairman that Sri Lanka would make arrangements for cultural performances, culinary events etc to be organized during celebrations of 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2020. The Ambassador proposed that the two countries initiate a youth exchange program, since the youth are the ones who can continue people to people contacts and further the connectivity in the future generations. H E Dr. Chung appreciated and welcomed the proposal and stated that the programme should commence in 2020, with a youth delegation from Ho Chi Minh Youth Union of Viet Nam to Sri Lanka.
Third Secretary/Commercial of the Embassy Prasadi Boomawalage, assisted the Ambassador Gamage during the meeting and Dr. Chung was assisted by Director General of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ha Noi’s People’s Committee Nguyen Anh Dung and Chief of Staff of the Chairman, Vu Dang Dinh.
