Addressing theevent, Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ton Sinh Thanh spoke highly ofthe activities of the Vietnamese community in the country, especiallysince Vietnam re-opened its embassy in Colombo in April 2011.
Accordingto Thanh, Vietnam - Sri Lanka relations have seen developmentsin 2012, especially in economics with two-way trade reaching nearly 150million USD, a year-on-year increase of 40 percent.
He saidthe congress is an important landmark of the community’s growth andwill help promote activities for the homeland and strengthen thetraditional friendship between the two countries.-VNA