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Top Finnish legislator begins official visit to Vietnam

Top Finnish legislator begins official visit to Vietnam
  Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho arrived in Hanoi on Sunday, starting his official visit to Vietnam. Photo: VNA  

Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho and a high-ranking delegation of the Finnish Parliament arrived in Hanoi at noon on March 24, beginning a three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

The delegation was welcomed at the Noi Bai International Airport by Vice Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan and Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam Keijo Norvanto, among others.

This is the first visit to a country outside Europe by Jussi Halla-aho since he took office and he is visiting only Vietnam this time, showing Vietnam's special position in Finland's foreign policy, as well as the good friendship between the two legislatures. 

The visit also aims to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations (1973 - 2023).

The visit is expected to help strengthen the cooperative relations between the two countries in various areas, Don Tuan Phong, Vice Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Foreign Affairs, spoke to the media ahead of the visit.

According to the official, over the past 51 years, the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Finland have been maintained and developed well. Finland always gives Vietnam much attention and support.

Finland has continuously provided non-refundable aid to Vietnam since the two countries established diplomatic relations. Economic-trade-investment cooperation is a top priority in their relations.

Two-way trade has continuously increased, reaching nearly 380 million USD in 2023. However, it is still a modest number, especially in the context of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) taking effect in 2020.

Regarding investment, Finland currently ranks 58th out of 140 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 35 valid projects worth over 47 million USD, which also remains modest rate compared to Finland's economic potential and strengths, Phong said.

Therefore, Phong said, through this visit, leaders of the two countries will discuss measures to further strengthen economic, trade, and investment cooperation, particularly how to raise trade turnover, increase Finnish investment in Vietnam, and attract more Finnish businesses to Vietnam, especially in fields where the European country has strengths and Vietnam has demand like high technology, digital transformation, education-training, and component production.

The official informed that the top legislators of Vietnam and Finland are scheduled to discuss measures to strengthen cooperation between the two legislatures, especially in exchanging experience in legislation and supreme supervision, and deciding on important national issues./.

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