From Uncle Ho's statue in Colombo to Vesak: The deep bond between Vietnam and Sri Lanka

Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trinh Thi Tam emphasized that many generations of leaders and people of Sri Lanka have great love and respect for President Ho Chi Minh even though they only know his name through books.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trinh Thi Tam takes a photo with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Sri Lanka)

Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trinh Thi Tam gave an interview to The Gioi and Viet Nam Newspaper ahead of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's State visit to Vietnam and attendance at the United Nations Day of Vesak from May 4-6.

Could you please share the significance and highlights of the upcoming visit of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to Vietnam, on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries?

The State visit of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to Vietnam, scheduled to take place from May 4-6, is of great significance. This is Mr. Dissanayake's first visit to Vietnam as President (from November 2024), and takes place on the occasion of the two countries solemnly celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1970-2025).

The visit demonstrates the special respect that the leaders and people of Sri Lanka have for the traditional friendship with Vietnam; affirms the common determination of the two countries to continue to consolidate and further develop cooperation in traditional fields such as politics , diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchange. At the same time, promoting cooperation in new and potential fields such as digital transformation, digital economy, energy transformation, artificial intelligence, connectivity, etc.

The highlight of the visit is that President Dissanayake will hold talks and meetings with senior Vietnamese leaders to discuss directions for promoting bilateral relations in the new period, witness the signing of several important cooperation documents, meet with large Vietnamese enterprises and attend the United Nations Vesak Festival held in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, the visit will be an opportunity for the two countries to look back on the past 55 years, propose directions and measures to realize the great potential for cooperation in the future for the benefit of the two countries; contributing to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The recent outstanding bilateral cooperation achievements are often associated with the number “3”: signing 3 important cooperation mechanisms, more than 30 agreements in many fields, about 30 investment projects of Sri Lanka in Vietnam and about 300 million USD/year in trade turnover. What are your expectations for the upcoming impressive cooperation figures?

Vietnam-Sri Lanka cooperation is maintaining a positive development momentum, reflected through “impressive milestones”: 3 regular cooperation mechanisms (Joint Committee at the Foreign Minister level, Political Consultation at the Deputy Foreign Minister level, Joint Trade Subcommittee at the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade level); more than 30 signed agreements; nearly 30 Sri Lankan investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of more than 40 million USD; and stable trade turnover of around 300 million USD/year in recent years.

In the future, we expect these numbers to grow strongly, soon achieving the following goals:

Firstly , trade turnover reached 500 million USD, through promoting trade promotion, logistics cooperation, exploiting the potential of agricultural products, aquatic products, food processing, consumer goods...; aiming for the target of 1 billion USD set by the two countries' senior leaders in 2011.

Second , double the number of investment projects from Sri Lanka to Vietnam, and at the same time encourage Vietnamese enterprises to seek investment opportunities in Sri Lanka in areas such as high-tech agriculture, industrial crop development, pharmaceuticals, seaports, logistics, tourism, construction, information technology, etc.

Third, expand cooperation in key areas, especially high-tech agriculture, seafood exploitation and processing, human resource training, and diversifying tourism forms.

Fourth , promote aviation cooperation with direct flights from Colombo to Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate tourism and people-to-people exchange.

In addition, the two sides also pledged to continue to regularly hold meetings of the three existing cooperation mechanisms, as a basis for realizing development goals, and actively implement cooperation documents, including those to be signed during President Dissanayake's visit to Vietnam this time.

Vietnamese businesses can seek investment opportunities in Sri Lanka in areas such as high-tech agriculture. (Source: Data Science Central)

In memory of President Ho Chi Minh, who inspired and encouraged national liberation movements around the world, Sri Lanka erected a statue of him in the capital Colombo. According to the Ambassador, what should the two countries do to continue to foster the close relationship inherited from previous generations?

History books record that President Ho Chi Minh stopped in Sri Lanka at least three times during his search for a way to save the country in 1911, 1928 and 1946. The statue of President Ho Chi Minh at the Colombo Library, inaugurated in 2013, and the Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh Space here, are vivid evidence of the strong friendship between the two countries.

Many generations of Sri Lankan leaders and people have had great affection and respect for President Ho Chi Minh, although they only knew his name through books; his collection of poems “Prison Diary” has been translated into Sinhala. To continue and nurture this precious affection, in my opinion, the two countries need to:

Firstly , periodically organize activities to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh, introduce Ho Chi Minh's ideology to Sri Lankan friends, especially to the youth.

Second , promote exchanges between the two countries' young generations through scholarship exchange programs, cultural and educational exchanges, and cooperation in research on the history of the national liberation movement.

Third, encourage and facilitate the activities of friendship associations of the two countries such as the Sri Lanka - Vietnam Solidarity Association and the Vietnam - Sri Lanka Friendship Association in people-to-people exchange.

Fourth , strengthen cooperation between localities of the two countries to create real ties from the grassroots level, exploiting the strengths of localities to contribute to bilateral relations.

Fifth, promoting cultural and Buddhist connections are strengths of the bilateral relationship.

The friendship between the two countries was once again highlighted by the schedule of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to attend the United Nations Vesak Festival in Ho Chi Minh City. What was the message of the Sri Lankan leader when attending the world-class event hosted by Vietnam?

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's acceptance of the invitation to attend the 2025 United Nations Day of Vesak as the Chief Guest and deliver a speech at the opening session affirms Sri Lanka's importance to an international event hosted by Vietnam; highlighting the close cooperation between the two countries in the field of Buddhism.

The festival is not only a major international cultural and religious event, but also an opportunity for Vietnam and Sri Lanka - two countries with long-standing Buddhist traditions - to affirm their pioneering role in preserving and promoting Buddhist values, including building a world of peace, tolerance and sustainable development.

The presence of the President of Sri Lanka at Vesak will contribute to further strengthening the traditional and strong relationship between the two countries, while affirming the common role of the two countries in international cultural initiatives.

The 2019 United Nations Day of Vesak hosted by Vietnam was attended by 1,650 international delegates from 112 countries and 20,000 domestic delegates. (Source: VNA)

To celebrate the "golden milestone" in bilateral relations this year, what outstanding activities has the Vietnamese Embassy in Sri Lanka been implementing?

On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Sri Lanka (1970–2025), the Embassy of Vietnam in Sri Lanka has been organizing a series of rich and diverse commemorative activities, aiming to strengthen the friendship and people-to-people exchange between the two countries, including a number of main activities, first of all, the launching of a contest to learn about knowledge and design a logo about Vietnam - Sri Lanka relations, taking place from January to June and a logo design contest from March to May, with the wide participation of students from schools and universities in Sri Lanka.

Along with a number of other typical competitions such as: celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3, 1930 - February 3, 2025) with the participation of Sri Lankan political parties that have friendly relations with the Communist Party of Vietnam; issuing a joint stamp set of Vietnam - Sri Lanka, expected in November or December; organizing a Vietnam Film Week in Sri Lanka, expected in July or August to introduce the country, people and culture of Vietnam to Sri Lankan friends; organizing the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day and the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam - Sri Lanka diplomatic relations, expected in late August or early September, combined with an art performance program; Vietnamese Cuisine Week, expected in October.

The Embassy also actively promotes delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, most recently the meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and President Dissanayake in Dubai (February 2025) and Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai's visit to Sri Lanka (March 2025); as well as the implementation of bilateral mechanisms between the two countries.

These activities demonstrate the Embassy's persistent efforts in further deepening the good traditional relationship between Vietnam and Sri Lanka, towards new levels in the future.

Thank you very much Ambassador!

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tu-tuong-bac-ho-o-colombo-den-dai-le-phat-da-n-vesak-moi-luong-duyen-sau-nang-giua-viet-nam-va-sri-lanka-312918.html