The Sri Lanka-Vietnam Solidarity Association (SVSA) held a meeting in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo on May 13 to mark Vietnam’s reopening of its embassy in Sri Lanka and the 121 st birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 – May 19, 2011).

Addressing the event, Dew Gunasekera, Minister of Human Resources and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka said the re-establishment of the Vietnamese embassy in Sri Lanka ushered in a new chapter in the two countries’ relations and will create favourable conditions for SVSA to operate more actively.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ton Sinh Thanh affirmed that Vietnam is willing to cooperate with Sri Lanka in all fields and always supports Sri Lanka’s efforts to maintain peace and stability for development.

He also thanked the Sri Lankan government, people and SVSA for their special sentiments toward President Ho Chi Minh, who visited Sri Lanka twice./.