ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met, Tô Lâm, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), who led a sweeping anti-corruption drive, and is effectively the most powerful leader in the country.
The meeting took place later Sunday at the CPV Central Committee Headquarters in Hanoi, a statement from President’s media office said.
As Minister of Public Security, General Secretary To Lam led an anti-corruption drive, started by his predecessor Nguyễn Phú Trọng that led to the resignation or ouster of a series of state officials including a Prime Minister, President, Speaker of Parliament among others.
At one time in 2024, about a third of Vietnam’s 18 member politburo positions were vacant.
After briefly serving as state President, he took over after then General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng died in July 2024.
Under To Lam, Vietnam’s state workers will be slashed by 20 percent, reducing the burden of the state on the people (spending based consolidation), in sharp contrast to the revenue-based-fiscal consolidation and heedless spending of Anglo-Saxon academic stimulus (macro-economic policy), analysts say.
READ MORE: Vietnam to cut one-fifth of public workforce
General Secretary had congratulated President Dissanayake and the JVP Party, the core of the ruling coalition of the National People’s Power Party (NPP) saying that the result demonstrated the high credibility among the people of Sri Lanka for the JVP Party and the President personally, Vietnam’s government information portal said.
He had expressed confidence that under the leadership of the President, Sri Lanka will achieve many achievements in the development of the country in the country.
President Dissanayake had congratulated the Party, State and people of Vietnam on the reunification on April 30, 1975.
Sri Lanka’s President had expressed his admiration for Vietnam’s outstanding achievements in economic development, after 50 years of national reunification, becoming one of the countries with the highest development rate in the world, with a role, position that is constantly improving.
He had expressed the desire to learn Vietnam’s experience in economic development, institutional reform, anti-corruption, and governance of the country.
The two leaders agreed to work more closely and strengthen their mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, and further South-South co-operation, the portal said.
Vietnam re-opened its economy in 1984 about six years after Sri Lanka and reformed its central bank in 1987 achieving monetary stability over the next three to four years allowing businesses to operate and created an environment for foreign investors to come in.
Vietnam is now a free trading country with low food prices including proteins, ending malnutrition of little children under self-sufficiency. (Colombo/May05/2025)
