The stamp collection featuring Ho Chi Minh has seven designs. – Photo courtesy of the Vietnamese embassy in Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA (Biz Hub) — Sri Lanka has issued about 500,000 new stamps with seven designs featuring former President Ho Chi Minh to celebrate his 102th birthday on May 19.

The collection has been designed by Sri Lankan artist Kumudu Tharaka who has depicted Ho Chi Minh with vivid and bright colours. All the stamps feature Minh's portrait and a red flag with a yellow star.

Minh had visited Sri Lanka several times during his revolutionary life, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ton Sinh Thanh. Minh is one of few international political figures to feature on Sri Lankan stamps.

"We believe that the issuance of the Ho Chi Minh stamps would be another step to promote bilateral cooperation, and people-to-people and business interaction between our two countries," said Thanh.

The ambassador said the first agreement signed with Sri Lanka after the country's re-unification in 1975 was a postal deal. — VNS