The Sri Lanka - Vietnam Parliamentarian Friendship Association was established in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo on September 21.

MP and Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Tissa Vitarana was elected as the association’s President.

Chandima Weerakkody, Deputy Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament, said that the association aimed to promote and expand friendship and fine cooperation between the two nations for the benefit of the two peoples and the region.

Addressing the event, President Vitarana reviewed the long-standing friendship between the two countries and expressed his admiration for the Vietnamese people in the fight for national independence and unification as well as in the current national construction, adding that the association will also help strengthen ties between the two legislative bodies and the two nations.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Ton Sinh Thanh, said that the event manifested a new development in the traditional friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, contributing to promoting bilateral economic trade in the near future.

Ambassador Thanh said he hoped that with similarities in history and culture, Vietnam and Sri Lanka would continue promoting relations in all fields, including ties between the two legislative bodies.

At the event, 15 members including ministers in the Sri Lankan government were elected into the association’s Executive Committee./.