Vietrade and Sri Lanka's EDB agree to enter into MOU

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Viet Nam initiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) to establish cooperation between trade promotion agencies of the two countries.

The initial meeting between the two organizations in this regard was convened virtually.

Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Viet Nam Prof. A. Saj U. Mendis emphasized that although there are immense opportunities to cooperate between the two countries, a lack of coordination between trade promotion agencies is a compelling hindrance in arranging B2B meetings and exchanging trade delegations between the two countries, which are key to boosting and elevating bilateral trade relations.

In 2023, Sri Lanka’s exports to Vietnam were around USD 35 million and imports from Vietnam were USD 185 million, which is negligible when compared to Vietnam’s exports and imports with the world, which is around USD 360 billion and USD 330 billion respectively.

The proposed MOU addresses many areas of cooperation and collaboration which facilitates those difficulties and impediments. 

It is envisaged that this would contribute towards achieving the trade turnover targets of USD 500 million first and then USD one billion within the next 3 to 4 years, thus benefiting both countries.

The idea of the MOU was well received by the Director General of Vietrade Le Hoang Tai, who remarked on his anticipation to boost bilateral trade between the two countries based on this new cooperation and collaboration.