Vietnam News Today (May 4): Vietnam, Sri Lanka Deepen Traditional Friendship, Comprehensive Cooperation

	Vietnam News Today (May 2): Overseas Vietnamese Help Vietnamese Products Go Global
	Vietnam News Today (May 3): Vietnam And Kazakhstan to Elevate Relations to Comprehensive Partnership

President of Sri Lanka Anura Kumara Dissanayake takes the oath of office in Colombo, September 23, 2024. (Photo: AA/VNA)

Vietnam, Sri Lanka deepen traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation

The upcoming state visit of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka to Vietnam is expected to strengthen political trust and foster deeper, more effective cooperation across a wide range of sectors.

The state visit will take place from May 4-6, during which he will attend the United Nations Day of Vesak. This marks his first visit to Vietnam as President, following his inauguration in last November, and coincides with the 55th anniversary of Vietnam–Sri Lanka diplomatic relations (July 21, 1970 – 2025).

Enduring ties marked by high-level engagement

Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1970, Vietnam and Sri Lanka have maintained strong and dynamic relations. Sri Lanka has consistently expressed warm sentiments toward Vietnam and regards the country as a model of economic growth and international integration.

High-level exchanges have long played a pivotal role in enhancing bilateral ties. Vietnam’s key visits included those by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong in 1978, President Truong Tan Sang in 2011, and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in 2013. On the Sri Lankan side, prominent visits include President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2009, Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa in 2013, and Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, who participated in the Vesak celebrations in 2014. In a recent move to reinforce inter-parliamentary relations, Sri Lanka launched the Sri Lanka–Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Association in March, enhancing legislative cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

The two nations have also established three key bilateral cooperation mechanisms: the Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation; Political Consultations; and the Joint Subcommittee on Trade. Vietnam and Sri Lanka continue to work closely together at international and regional forums.

Expanding economic and sectoral partnerships

Sri Lanka has formally recognized Vietnam’s full market economy status, with annual two-way trade reaching approximately 200 million USD, primarily Vietnamese exports. Both sides aim to elevate bilateral trade to 1 billion USD in the coming years.

To date, Sri Lanka has 32 valid investment projects in Vietnam, with a combined registered capital of 43.07 million USD, placing it 62nd among 148 foreign investors in the country, cited VNA.

Beyond trade and investment, cooperation across finance, agriculture, education, transport, culture, tourism, religion, and people-to-people exchange continues to gain traction. More than 30 bilateral agreements underpin this collaboration, including the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (2005), the Agricultural Cooperation Work Plan for 2024–2026, the Education Cooperation Agreement for 2023–2026, and the Air Transport Agreement (2012).

Cultural and religious cooperation, particularly in Buddhism, has emerged as a central pillar of the bilateral relationship. Shared Buddhist values of peace and compassion form a unique spiritual and cultural bridge between the people of both countries.

A shared vision for future cooperation

As Vietnam and Sri Lanka are celebrating 55 years of diplomatic relations, both nations are poised to deepen ties further, leveraging mutual trust and shared development goals. President Dissanayaka’s visit underscores Sri Lanka’s strong commitment to its traditional friendship with Vietnam and reflects the shared resolve to expand collaboration across traditional areas, while opening new avenues in digital transformation, digital economy, energy transition, artificial intelligence, and connectivity.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trinh Thi Tam highlighted the significance of President Dissanayaka’s participation in the UN Day of Vesak 2025 as Guest of Honour and keynote speaker. His attendance reaffirms Sri Lanka’s respect for Vietnam’s role as host of this major international event and underscores their close cooperation in promoting Buddhist values.

The Vesak celebration serves as a vital platform for both countries, home to rich Buddhist traditions, to assert their leadership in safeguarding and promoting Buddhist principles, including peace, tolerance, and sustainable development. President Dissanayaka’s presence at Vesak 2025 is expected to further strengthen the bilateral relationship and affirm both nations’ contributions to global cultural initiatives.

Looking ahead, with a strong foundation built over more than five decades and positive socio-economic momentum in both countries, Vietnam–Sri Lanka relations are set to flourish in the years to come.

Buddhist cultural festival highlights spiritual heritage in Ho Chi Minh City

The Central Culture Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha solemnly opened the Buddhist Cultural Festival on May 3 at Lang Le Park in Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City. as part of the 2025 United Nations Day of Vesak.

The festival features 285 booths showcasing traditional Vietnamese products, Buddhist publications, and various services to meet the needs of Buddhist followers and visitors attending the Vesak events.

Highlights of the festival include a ceremony to hoist a 500-square-meter Great Buddhist flag ahead of the official Vesak opening, and a flower lantern lighting ritual to pray for national peace and prosperity, with 35,000 lanterns and 12,000 participants, according to VOV.

At the opening ceremony of the Buddhist Cultural Festival.

The event also includes exhibitions of ancient scriptures and national treasures, as well as artistic performances by Vietnamese artists and international troupes from China, India, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, and Mongolia.

Also on May 3, in celebration of the 2025 UN Day of Vesak, the Ho Chi Minh City Photography Association, in coordination with the Vietnam Institute of Buddhist Studies, launched an exhibition and award ceremony for the photography contest “Buddhist Wisdom: Human Dignity and Peace.”

Launched from January 20 to March 31, the contest attracted 1,446 entries from 216 photographers nationwide. The photos vividly depict the profound humanistic values of Buddhism, such as compassion, wisdom, altruism, peace, and harmony, and richly portray Buddhist cultural heritage, from festivals and rituals to sacred sites and the monastic life. Several works also honor Vesak from historical, cultural, and spiritual perspectives.

The jury selected 107 outstanding works to be exhibited for monks, nuns, Buddhist followers, and the general public.

Vietnamese businesses catch market trends in Canada

Vietnamese businesses seized the opportunity at the SIAL 2025 agriculture and food exhibition to align with Canada's ongoing trend of diversifying markets and supply chains, participating with greater scale in both the number of enterprises and variety of products.

The Vietnamese companies showcased a wide range of goods, from raw input materials for production chains to high-value processed food products.

Tran Thu Quynh, Trade Counselor at the Embassy of Vietnam in Canada, said Vietnam had six enterprises participating as suppliers of raw input products such as rice and spices, as well as deep-processed items including dairy products and chocolate. These are new and creative product lines from Vietnam that the Canadian and broader American markets are not yet familiar with.

Roberto Magnato from the Canadian Export Development noted the significant interest in exploring opportunities for Canadian companies to export to and sell in Vietnam. Equally, there is strong demand among Canadian firms for sourcing raw materials and products from Vietnam for local processing and manufacturing.

He stressed the importance of leveraging existing free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) between Canada and Vietnam, VNA reported.

Goods on display at a supermarket in Vancouver, Canada (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

In recent years, Vietnam has exported over 10 billion USD worth of goods annually to Canada. Around 4 billion USD of this has been routed through US suppliers, given Canada’s reliance on its southern neighbor’s supply chain. Ongoing trade tensions between the two countries are opening up more direct opportunities for Vietnamese products to enter the Canadian market.

Sales Director of Lotus Rice Company Vu Thi Hue stated that their participation in the fair aims to reach more customers and partners. The company also seeks to better understand the market to attract a broader customer base, considering Canada’s significant size and potential.

Le Thi Hoai Thuong, Deputy General Director of the Viet Pepper Company, expressed the company’s desire to continue participating in future fairs and hoped for greater support from the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada and domestic agencies to help bring more Vietnamese products to the Canadian market.

In the first two months of 2025, Vietnam exported 1.7 billion USD worth of goods to Canada, up 12.9% compared to the same period last year. If this growth rate is sustained, Vietnam’s exports to the country can exceed 11 billion USD this year, with a trade surplus of approximately 10 billion USD.

This indicates that while tariff threats present challenges, they also offer opportunities for both sides to enhance market and supply chain diversification and reduce dependence on a single market.

Air travel tops 636,000 passengers in first three days of national holiday

Vietnam's Civil Aviation Authority has reported that over 636,000 passengers travelled by air between April 30 and May 2 during the Reunification Day–Labor Day holiday.

On April 30, the total passenger volume reached nearly 245,000, including over 137,000 international and 107,000 domestic travellers. Vietnamese airlines alone transported more than 164,000 passengers, a sharp increase compared to the same period last year.

Airports nationwide handled over 2,100 flights that day, serving more than 352,000 passengers in total. Major international airports such as Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, and Da Nang reported particularly high volumes, cited VOV.

Photo: VOV

The upward trend continued on May 1 and 2, with daily passenger numbers averaging over 230,000. Cargo throughput also saw strong growth, with daily volumes exceeding 3,400 tonnes, up considerably from the previous year.

Notably, facial recognition technology via the VNeID app was deployed at Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports to streamline check-in procedures, reducing the need for physical ID checks.

The five-day holiday from April 30 to May 4 is expected to see over 7,500 domestic flights, with approximately 1.5 million seats available. The Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City route alone accounts for more than 1,260 flights, up 16%.

Vietnam aims to attract high-quality foreign investment

Alongside the introduction of new mechanisms and policies to encourage investors in key sectors, Vietnam is simultaneously implementing a range of measures, including the development of land funds and industrial park infrastructure, human resources and the labor market, energy infrastructure, as well as supporting industries.

In recent years, Vietnam has attracted large volumes of capital through both the capital market and foreign direct investment, making significant contributions to economic growth.

The year 2024 marked a successful year for the economy and capital market, with a total capital mobilization of nearly 930 trillion VND, 1.3 times higher than in 2023, equivalent to 25% of total social investment. In 2024, the capitalization of the stock market reached 62.5% of GDP, while bond market outstanding debt reached 31.5% of GDP. Foreign investors opened nearly 48,000 trading accounts, with total transaction value reaching nearly 1.1 quadrillion VND. Foreign institutional investors accounted for 20.7% of all institutional investors in the market.

Alongside the growth of indirect investment capital, total foreign direct investment implemented in 2024 recorded the highest increase ever. These impressive results contributed positively to economic growth, with GDP in 2024 reaching 7.09%, bringing Vietnam’s economic scale to 476.3 billion USD, ranking 33rd globally.

Despite these positive outcomes, the total asset value of securities investment funds remains modest compared to potential, accounting for only 6.5% of GDP, while the figure is 21% in Thailand and 52% in Malaysia.

Direct investment activities still face obstacles relating to administrative procedures, taxation, customs, and foreign exchange, cited NDO.

Vietnam is proactively making detailed preparations to welcome the new investment wave. (Photo: NDO)

According to the General Statistics Office and the Ministry of Finance, foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered a bright spot in Vietnam’s economic performance during the first quarter of 2025.

Specifically, total registered FDI in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2025 reached 10.98 billion USD, an increase of 34.7% compared to the same period in 2024. Of this, 850 new FDI projects were licensed, with registered capital totaling 4.33 billion USD, up 11.5% in project number but down 31.5% in registered capital compared to the same period in 2024.

Of these, the processing and manufacturing industry attracted the most new FDI projects, with registered capital reaching 2.62 billion USD, accounting for 60.5% of total newly registered capital; the real estate business ranked second with 1.13 billion USD, accounting for 26.1%; the remaining sectors reached 581.5 million USD, or 13.4%.

Among the 53 countries and territories with newly licensed investment projects in Vietnam in the first three months of 2025, Singapore was the largest investor with 1.32 billion USD, followed by China with 1.23 billion USD, Japan with 341.8 million USD, and Hong Kong (China) with 310.2 million USD.

In the first quarter of 2025, Vietnam also recorded 401 instances of previously licensed projects registering capital adjustments, with additional registered FDI reaching 5.16 billion USD, five times higher than the same period in 2024.

Taking into account both newly registered and adjusted capital of previously licensed projects, registered FDI in the processing and manufacturing industry totalled 6.3 billion USD, accounting for 66.5% of newly registered and additional capital.

In the first quarter of 2025, the real estate business attracted a total of 2.24 billion USD in newly registered and additional FDI, accounting for 23.6% of total FDI investment in Vietnam. Other sectors accounted for 943 million USD, or 9.9%.

Also in the first quarter of 2025, there were 810 instances of foreign investors registering to contribute capital or purchase shares in Vietnamese enterprises, with total capital contribution value reaching 1.49 billion USD, an increase of 83.7% compared to the same period in 2024.

Notably, in terms of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors, the processing and manufacturing industry remained dominant with 487.6 million USD, accounting for 32.7% of total capital contributions; professional, scientific and technological activities reached 337.2 million USD, or 22.7%; the remaining sectors accounted for 664.8 million USD, or 44.6%.

In addition to the positive developments in registered FDI inflows, according to the General Statistics Office, realized FDI in the first quarter of 2025 also saw a strong breakthrough. Specifically, FDI implemented in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2025 was estimated at 4.96 billion USD, an increase of 7.2% over the same period in 2024. This is the highest realized FDI in the first three months of a year in the past five years. Of this, the processing and manufacturing industry accounted for 4.05 billion USD, or 81.7% of total realized FDI.

According to the Ministry of Finance, to remove bottlenecks and unleash all development resources, alongside efforts from the Party and Government to streamline and enhance the administrative system’s efficiency, Vietnam is placing strong focus on mobilizing all resources both domestically and internationally, particularly capital from investment funds and foreign direct investment.

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