A ceremony took place in Colombo on May 14 to launch a Vietnam-funded technical support project for Sri Lanka’s aquaculture development.

The event was attended by Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Sarath Kumara Gunaratne, National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka (NAQDA) Chairman J. Chandrasoma, Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ton Sinh Thanh and Director of the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 3 (RIA 3) Dao Van Tri.

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister Gunaratne spoke highly of Vietnam’s outstanding aquaculture achievements, which he said are precious experience for his country during the development of the sector.

He expressed his belief that the 2013-2014 project, funded by the Vietnamese Government, will contribute to fostering the effective development of Sri Lanka’s aquaculture sector.

Ambassador Thanh highly valued Sri Lanka’s great potential in aquaculture, affirming that Vietnam is willing to share experience with and help the country develop its aquaculture in order to create jobs and increase incomes for local fishermen.

Thanh said he hopes the project will boost investment in the exploitation of aquatic resources in Sri Lanka by establishing joint ventures among the two countries’ businesses.-VNA