A statement from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 4 said: At the invitation of President of the Social Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka Anura Kumara Dissanayake, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation will pay a state visit to the Social Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka from May 7 to 8.
Vietnam and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations on July 21, 1970. The two countries have traditional friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation.
Political parties in Sri Lanka have sympathy and value relations with Vietnam, considering Vietnam as a successful model in economic development for Sri Lanka to learn from. Sri Lanka has recognized Vietnam as having a full market economy.
Visits to Sri Lanka by senior Vietnamese leaders: Prime Minister Pham Van Dong's official visit (March 2, 1973); State President Truong Tan Sang's state visit (October 13-15, 2011).
Visits to Vietnam by senior Sri Lankan leaders: Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake's official visit (November 26-29, 2006); President Mahinda Rajapaksa's official visit (May 10, 2009); Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne attends Vesak Day (May 7-11, 2014); Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's official visit (April 16-18, 2017), attends the IOC Conference (August 26-29, 2018) and WEF-ASEAN (September 11-14, 2018); Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka's state visit and attends Vesak United Nations Vesak Day (May 3-5, 2025).
The two countries have established 3 bilateral cooperation mechanisms: (i) Joint Committee on Economics, Science and Technology (level of Minister of Foreign Affairs), (ii) Political Consultation (level of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs); and (iii) Joint Trade Subcommittee (level of Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade).
Regarding trade, in 2024, two-way trade turnover is about 215.5 million USD. In 2025, bilateral trade turnover reached about 260 million USD, an increase of 20% compared to 2024. As of March 2026, bilateral trade turnover reached about 50 million USD. The two countries have just signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in machine manufacturing in May 2025.
Regarding investment, Sri Lanka has 34 valid projects with a total registered capital of 43 million USD, ranking 64th/154 countries and territories with investment in Vietnam in 7/21 economic sectors of Vietnam (investment capital focuses on the processing and manufacturing industry with 8 projects and 40.7 million USD of registered capital, accounting for 95%% of total registered investment capital) in 7/34 provinces and cities of Vietnam. Hung Yen leads with 1 project, total investment capital of 20 million USD (accounting for nearly 50% of total investment capital); second is Tay Ninh province with 2 projects, total investment capital of 7 million USD; third is Dong Nai province with 2 projects, total investment capital of 7 million USD.
Some typical projects: (i) Sri Lanka's largest project in Vietnam is the Swimwear Factory project in Hung Yen province with a total registered investment capital of 8.72 million USD; (ii) EPIC Design Co., Ltd. project, total registered investment capital of 3.5 million USD; (iii) Garment project of Alpine Creations Vietnam Co., Ltd., total investment capital of 2 million USD in Tay Ninh province.
