This is an event of particular significance for both countries as it marks the first visit to Sri Lanka by a Vietnamese general secretary and president, reaffirming Viet Nam’s high regard for the longstanding friendship between the two nations and creating an opportunity to elevate bilateral relations to a new level.

Taken together with his visit to India, General Secretary and President To Lam’s trip to Sri Lanka underscores Viet Nam’s determination to strengthen cooperation with South Asia for the benefit of the peoples of Viet Nam and the wider region, as well as for peace, stability, cooperation, and development.

The friendship between Viet Nam and Sri Lanka has been nurtured through close religious and cultural ties, shared values of peace, friendship, stability, and cooperation, and the sincere affection between the two peoples.

Generations of Sri Lankan leaders and people have expressed deep admiration for President Ho Chi Minh and warm affection for Viet Nam, while holding in high regard the indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese people in their struggle for national independence.

Viet Nam, a Southeast Asian nation with political stability and a dynamic, fast-growing economy, is regarded by Sri Lanka as a development model worth emulating and as an important partner for cooperation.

Since officially establishing diplomatic relations in 1970, Viet Nam and Sri Lanka have reached many important milestones in their traditional friendship and cooperation while weathering the historical circumstances of each country and the broader region.

Viet Nam and Sri Lanka each hold strategically important positions in the Indo-Pacific, and amid an increasingly complex and unpredictable international landscape, both countries are striving to realise their development goals and aspirations.

Relations between Viet Nam and Sri Lanka — two longstanding friends and close partners — have brought tangible benefits to the peoples of both nations while contributing to maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world.

The warm friendship between the two countries has provided momentum for deepening Viet Nam-Sri Lanka cooperation. In recent years, both sides have actively maintained high-level contacts and exchanges at multiple levels through party, state, and parliamentary channels, people-to-people diplomacy, and engagement at multilateral forums.

Political trust serves as an important foundation for promoting cooperation across many fields. Notably, Sri Lanka has recognised Viet Nam as a full market economy.

In 2025, bilateral trade reached approximately 260 million USD, a 20% increase over 2024. Sri Lanka currently has more than 30 investment projects in Viet Nam with total registered capital of around 43 million USD.

Bilateral cooperation in finance, agriculture, education, transport, culture, tourism, and religion has grown steadily, alongside the expansion of people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries signed a double taxation avoidance agreement in October 2005 and a customs cooperation and mutual assistance agreement in May 2025.

On the international stage, the two countries have maintained close coordination and mutual support within international and regional organisations, particularly the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as through South-South cooperation frameworks and on issues of shared concern.

General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to Sri Lanka strongly reaffirms Viet Nam’s consistent foreign policy line set out at the 14th National Party Congress and Politburo Resolution 34 on independence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, multilateralisation, and diversification of foreign relations, with particular importance attached to ties with South Asia and Sri Lanka.

Elevating relations with longstanding friends, including Sri Lanka, to a new level carries particular significance, generating fresh momentum and new impetus for Viet Nam as it enters a new stage of development.