Vietnam always attaches importance to its traditional friendship with Finland.

At the meeting with the Finnish Prime Minister, the General Secretary affirmed that Vietnam is ready to cooperate with Finland to elevate relations on key pillars such as politics-diplomacy, defense-security...

Within the framework of the official visit to Finland, on the afternoon of October 21 local time, at the Finnish Parliament headquarters, General Secretary To Lam had a meeting with the host country's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

At the meeting, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo warmly welcomed General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, to their official visit to Finland; affirming that General Secretary To Lam's visit is an important milestone to further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two countries.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo expressed his delight at the strong developments of the two countries, emphasizing the importance of upgrading their relations to a Strategic Partnership, opening up new and potential cooperation prospects, especially in the context of profound changes in the world and regional situation as at present.

Expressing sincere thanks to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo for his warm and cordial reception, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the traditional friendship with Finland; emphasizing that the Party, State and people of Vietnam always appreciate and deeply remember the help and support of the Finnish people in the early period of the renovation process, especially Finland's non-refundable aid to Vietnam in the fields of water supply and drainage, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, forestry, etc.

General Secretary To Lam congratulated Finland on its outstanding achievements in socio-economic development and its role and position in the European Union (EU).

Announcing some important results of the talks with President Alexander Stubb, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam is ready to cooperate closely with Finland to elevate the relationship on key pillars such as politics-diplomacy, defense-security, science-technology and digital transformation, education-training, environment and climate change response, culture and people-to-people exchange; affirming that Vietnam is ready to work with Finland to act as a bridge and promote cooperation between Vietnam and the EU, Finland and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The two leaders agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in all fields, from politics to economics-trade, investment, education-training, cooperation between localities and many other fields.

General Secretary To Lam meets with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

General Secretary To Lam stressed that the two countries need to increase delegation exchanges and contacts at high and all levels through cooperation channels to promote bilateral cooperation.

Regarding economics, trade and investment, the General Secretary emphasized that Finland is a very potential trade partner of Vietnam in Northern Europe and proposed that Finland cooperate and share experiences with Vietnam in building a circular economy; at the same time, encourage Finnish enterprises to increase investment in Vietnam, especially in Finland's strong sectors such as maritime cooperation, renewable energy, environment, processing technology, etc.

The General Secretary asked Finland to support the European Commission (EC) in soon removing the "yellow card" on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing on Vietnam's seafood exports.

Agreeing with the cooperation contents proposed by the General Secretary, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo affirmed that with the foundation of the newly established Strategic Partnership, the Finnish Government will continue to support the promotion of bilateral relations with a focus on promoting economics, trade, investment, science and technology, green economy, circular economy, renewable energy, digital transformation, innovation, healthcare... and creating conditions to promote Finnish enterprises to expand cooperation in Vietnam.

On this occasion, the two leaders exchanged views on the international and regional situation and issues of mutual concern; affirmed close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums; and supported the Vietnam-EU relationship.

The two sides emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in each region and in the world, on the basis of international law and the United Nations Charter.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam conveyed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's invitation to visit Vietnam to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/viet-nam-luon-coi-trong-quan-he-huu-nghi-truyen-thong-voi-phan-lan-post1071718.vnp