Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya hosted Vietnamese President and Communist Party General Secretary Tô Lâm for a bilateral meeting at the Hilton Colombo on Thursday afternoon, the President’s Media Division said. The talks were held on the sidelines of the visiting leader’s two-day state visit at the invitation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The Prime Minister thanked Tô Lâm for accepting the invitation and said the visit reflected the partnership, trust and friendship between the two countries and would mark a new milestone in bilateral relations. The two sides discussed strategies to strengthen and diversify economic, cultural and social ties for the mutual benefit of both peoples.
Sri Lanka was represented by Environment Minister Dr. Dhammika Patabendi, Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, and Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, alongside other officials.
The Vietnamese delegation included Politburo members Nguyen Duy Ngoc (Head of the Central Organisation Commission) and Nguyen Thanh Nghi (Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Commission), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Phan Van Giang, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung.
The Hilton meeting was held earlier in the day on which Tô Lâm and President Dissanayake elevated bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership and set a US$1 billion 2030 trade target. Tô Lâm later addressed Parliament — the first foreign head of state to do so since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 — before departing Sri Lanka on Thursday night to conclude the state visit.
