Sri Lanka parliament speaker begins Vietnam visit
(VOV) - Parliament Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa arrived in Hanoi on July 14, beginning an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of National Assembly chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.
He is accompanied by a number of senior government officials, including Minister of Technology and Research Tissa Vitharana, and Minister of State Resources and Enterprise Development Dayasritha Tisera.
Rajapaksa is scheduled to hold talks with Hung on measures to strengthen cooperation between Vietnam and Sri Lanka, as well as between the two legislative bodies.
The Sri Lankan legislator will visit the Vietnam Buddhism Institute and explore socio-economic development models in several localities.
Vietnam and Sri Lanka established diplomatic ties in 1970. Both countries have signed nearly 30 agreements and memorandums of understandings on cooperation in a number of areas, including post, trade, culture, aviation transport, science and technology, tourism, double tax avoidance, education, and oil and gas.