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| Dr. Dammika Patabendi, Minister of Environment, the group’s chairman speaks at the ceremony. VNA/VNS Photo |
HÀ NỘI – The Sri Lanka-Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Group has officially been launched by the 10th Parliarment of Sri Lanka.
The March 11 launch ceremony saw the attendance of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, Speaker of the Parliarment Jagath Wickramaratne, and Secretary General of the Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera. Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trịnh Thị Tâm participated in the event as an honorary guest and co-patron of the group.
Dr. Dammika Patabendi, Minister of Environment, was elected as the group’s chairman, while Hasara Liyanage, a member of parliament, was named its secretary. The group includes 15 members from Sri Lanka’s 10th Parliament.
In his remarks, Speaker Wickramaratne highlighted the long-standing friendship between Việt Nam and Sri Lanka, calling the group’s formation a key milestone in relations between the two countries as well as between their parliaments, especially as Sri Lanka prepares to welcome a high-level delegation from Việt Nam’s National Assembly. He expressed his hope that the group would foster activities to strengthen ties between the two nations and their legislative bodies.
Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam praised the positive cooperation between the two countries and the key role their parliaments have played in strengthening Việt Nam-Sri Lanka relations over the past 55 years since diplomatic ties were established in July 1970. She highlighted the parliaments’ role in overseeing government-level agreements and coordination at regional and international mechanisms like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF).
The ambassador voiced confidence that the group would contribute to consolidating relations between the two parliarments and people-to-people exchanges, affirming the Vietnamese Embassy’s readiness to support its activities.
Dr. Patabendi pledged to promote meaningful initiatives to deepen mutual understanding and strengthen the Việt Nam-Sri Lanka partnership for the shared benefits of both nations. VNS