So confirmed Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien at a meeting with Mr. Kari Kahiluoto, Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam, on August 12.
During the meeting, Minister Dien expressed his thanks to the Finnish Ambassador for his contributions to the economy and development of Vietnam over the years, not only in the fields of trade, industry and energy, but also in education, healthcare and many other fields.
At the meeting (Photo: congthuong.vn)
He also congratulated Finland on taking quick steps to control the COVID-19 pandemic, creating conditions for the country to accelerate economic recovery. As of August 5, 36.4% of the Finnish population, or 2 million people, were administered 5.72 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. “These positive developments, together with the implementation of the EVFTA, are expected to help trade between the two countries quickly resume,” he said.
For his part, the Finnish Ambassador confirmed that among EU countries, Finland is an important market for Vietnam and the two countries have witnessed positive growth in the past time despite the pandemic, with bilateral trade turnover of USD285 million in the first 6 months of 2021, up 61.2% over the same period last year.
“Vietnam wishes to export to Finland its key products such as iron and steel, footwear, machinery and equipment and textiles and garment,” said Minister Dien. “Meanwhile, Vietnam also wishes to import from Finland all kinds of machinery and equipment, wood, chemical products, electronics, and advanced services in the fields of energy, healthcare and education.”
The Finnish Ambassador also introduced the Framework Agreement on funding to support public investment between Finland and Vietnam, which was signed on January 21. “Through this tool to support public investment, Vietnam will have the opportunity to access competitive capital, while Finnish companies with long experience and trust in the market will have the opportunity to invest in the market with appropriate technology solutions, a good opportunity to participate in the Vietnamese market,” said the Finnish Ambassador.
According to the ambassador, the capital is for investment projects in the fields of providing social services such as clean water and sanitation, environmental protection, climate change prevention, energy, clean technology and other suitable areas./.