General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation on Friday evening (local time) leave Colombo for home, concluding their two-day successful state visit to Sri Lanka. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation on Friday evening (local time) left Colombo for home, concluding their two-day successful state visit to Sri Lanka.

During meetings and talks held in an open, sincere, trustworthy, and mutually understanding atmosphere, the two sides briefed each other on the situation in their respective countries and expressed satisfaction with the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation built over more than half a century, characterised by political trust, loyalty, wholehearted support, shared Buddhist values, and active participation in the Non-Aligned Movement.

They agreed to elevate political trust and comprehensively develop the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation, expand high-level and all-level exchanges and contacts, regularly implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms across various fields, strengthen ties between the two ruling parties, and enhance exchanges on theory, foreign policy, and regional and international issues of mutual concern.

The two sides consented to make defence and security cooperation more substantive and effective, particularly in training United Nations peacekeeping forces; expanding cooperation in information exchange and defence technology transfer; and strengthening collaboration in maritime security and cybersecurity.

Highlighting the strong potential for trade and investment cooperation, Việt Nam and Sri Lanka agreed to implement breakthrough measures to soon achieve the bilateral trade target of US$1 billion.

They concurred on strengthening cooperation in agriculture, agricultural supply chain connectivity, post-harvest preservation technology, fisheries, science and technology, and digital transformation, while sharing experience in developing key export products and implementing mutually beneficial research and technology transfer projects aimed at creating symbolic bilateral projects.

The two sides also agreed to make cultural and education cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and connectivity an important pillar of bilateral relations.

Regarding regional and international issues of mutual concern, both sides stressed that amid increasingly complex global and regional developments, Việt Nam and Sri Lanka should continue coordinating closely at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Global South Forum.

The two sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation, while emphasising the importance of peacefully resolving disputes based on respect for and compliance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). — VNA/VNS