Viet Nam explores cooperation opportunities with Sri Lanka’s Northern Province
Daily FT: A delegation from the Embassy of Viet Nam in Sri Lanka led by Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam concluded a three-day official visit to Sri Lanka’s Northern Province from 17–19 November 2025. The visit aimed to explore opportunities for collaboration between Viet Nam and the Northern Province, with a focus on strengthening economic, trade, investment and tourism linkages.
On 17 November, Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam paid a courtesy call on the Northern Province Governor Nagalingam Vethanayahan. She also held discussions with Chief Secretary Thanuja Murugeson and senior local government representatives in key sectors including Agriculture, Education, Health and Tourism.
Ambassador Tam commended the province for its continued progress in economic recovery, social development, security, and efforts to uplift living standards despite long-standing challenges. She reiterated Viet Nam’s interest in expanding cooperation in agriculture, fisheries, livestock, tourism, trade, and investment. Strengthening provincial-level partnerships, the Ambassador noted, would enable both sides to build on their comparative advantages as bilateral relations continue to grow positively after 55 years of establishment (1970-2025).
Governor Vethanayahan emphasized the strategic importance of the Northern Province as Sri Lanka’s closest gateway to Southeast Asia. Highlighting the region’s fertile land, long coastline, and abundant natural resources, he noted strong potential for agribusiness, aquaculture, livestock development, tourism, logistics and renewable energy.
He further outlined the province’s priorities, including industrial zones, special economic zones, and logistics infrastructure, and welcomed Vietnamese investors to explore opportunities in export-oriented agro-processing, infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and renewable energy.
Local authorities also briefed the delegation on challenges faced by the province, such as gaps in infrastructure, lack of processing facilities, and industrial capacity, especially value-added industries. They expressed hope for enhanced cooperation, technical support and skill training from Viet Nam in these areas.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic activities continue to spread to regions outside the country’s Western Province, which is the commercial hub of the country. While the expansion of key economic sectors have created many business/investment opportunities, these opportunities are spread across the country with the Northern Province showing great potential to become the next economically active region in Sri Lanka. The close proximity between Sri Lanka’s Northern Province and neighbouring India has increased the business potential of the province with many Indian businesses already engaged in business, trade and investments in the province. The Indian government has also expressed willingness to further develop and expand the operations of the Kankesanthurai port in the Northern Province while the Sri Lankan government is working on developing Palali Airport into a regional airport. All these developments will result in further developing connectivity between Sri Lanka and the largest market in South Asia – India. Given all these factors and the increasing interest in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province and the growing business potential, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in the province.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20251125/Z_1 |