Korea Venture Investment Corp. (KVIC), a state-backed fund management company, signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel's Vertex Venture Capital (VVC) to raise a US$150 million fund, which will be used to finance joint ventures or the merger and acquisition of small and mid-size venture firms in the two countries. Sri Lanka Israel was a source of weapons and training for the Sri Lanka Armed Forces during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam terrorist organization and weapons sold to the country, including IAI Kfir Fighter Jet, the Saar 4 class missile boats, Super Dvora Mk II-class patrol boat and the Gabriel missile. In May 2011, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture visited Sri Lanka with an agro-business delegation to promote cooperation between the two countries. Thailand Thailand and Israel have had full diplomatic relations since 23 June 1954. The Israeli embassy was opened in 1958 although the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv only opened in 1996. Since the beginning, both countries have enjoyed strong ties and beneficial bilateral cooperation in many fields, most notably in agriculture and education. Thousands of Thai academics have been sent to train in Israel while many Thai schools have been modeled after Israel's experience and know-how with aid from Mashav. State visits by Thai royalty to Israel have been reciprocated by Israel's public figures. 100,000 Israeli tourists visit Thailand annually. Thousands of skilled and unskilled Thai workers are employed in Israel and many Thai students study in Israel. There is also a Thai-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Thai-Israel Friendship Foundation as well as a small community of Israelis living in Thailand. Turkmenistan In 2013, the Israel Foreign Ministry opened a new embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Vietnam Vietnam and Israel established diplomatic relations on 12 July 1993. Israel opened its resident embassy in Hanoi in December 1993. The first Vietnamese ambassador to Israel presented his credentials on 8 July 2009. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have frequently conducted reciprocal visits at various levels, and have strengthened ties in such fields as business, education, culture, technological cooperation and agriculture. The visits arranged by the Israeli government included those of delegations comprising entrepreneurs and businessmen, academic groups, journalists, artists and musicians, legal workers, and so on. Europe Albania Israel and Albania established diplomatic relations on 20 August 1991. Albania had previously recognized Israel as a state since 1949. Albania has an embassy in Tel