The Vietnam Embassy in Sri Lanka held a ceremony marking the 124th birthday of late President Ho Chi Minh, which fell on May 19.

In his speech at the event, Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh recapped the life and great revolutionary career of late President Ho Chi Minh, the hero of national liberation and a UNESCO-honoured world cultural figure.

It is President Ho Chi Minh who laid a foundation for the flourishing ties and friendship between Vietnam and Sri Lanka, he stressed.

On the occasion, the organising board praised participants at the ceremony, especially the winners of a quiz about the late President.

The competition, together with the construction of a statue of President Ho Chi Minh in the capital city of Colombo in late 2013 and the recent launch of a stamp collection, has enabled Sri Lankan people to know more about the late President and helped bring the two peoples closer.

Earlier, representatives of the embassy and the Vietnamese community in Sri Lanka paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his statue in the campus of Colombo Public Library.

In related news, the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee in West Bengal state has offered flowers at a statue dedicated to late President Ho Chi Minh.-VNA