General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President of Việt Nam Tô Lâm (right) meets with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka’s top diversified conglomerate Hayleys PLC in Colombo on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

COLOMBO — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President of Việt Nam Tô Lâm received Mohan Pandithage, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka’s top diversified conglomerate Hayleys PLC in Colombo on Friday.

The visiting leader stressed that Việt Nam attaches importance to strengthening friendly and cooperative relations with Sri Lanka, in which economic–trade cooperation and business connectivity are among the key pillars. He noted that the meeting carried significance in promoting economic partnerships, particularly in the fields of aviation, tourism and trade.

Speaking highly of Hayleys as one of Sri Lanka’s leading conglomerates with extensive experience and strong reputation across multiple sectors, Party General Secretary and President Lâm said that given the complementarity of the two economies and their substantial room for growth, Việt Nam wishes to enhance cooperation with major Sri Lankan enterprises, especially those with regional market networks and connectivity capabilities such as Hayleys.

He suggested that Hayleys should go beyond trading activities and move towards building sustainable connectivity channels, serving as a bridge to help Vietnamese enterprises access distribution systems, logistics networks and customers in Sri Lanka.

The Party and State leader encouraged Hayleys to continue exploring investment opportunities in sectors aligned with both the group’s strengths and Việt Nam’s development needs, including aviation, tourism and logistics while developing value chains in agriculture, raw materials and deep processing industries.

Party General Secretary and President Lâm also welcomed the company’s proposal for cooperation in agriculture and processing, including the development of coconut value chains and processed products.

For his part, Pandithage affirmed Hayleys’ strong interest in the Vietnamese market.

He proposed leveraging the group’s role in promoting bilateral aviation, tourism and trade ties while exploring investment cooperation opportunities in complementary sectors such as agriculture, processing and distribution. — VNA/VNS