Party General Secretary Tô Lâm witnesses the exchange of the memorandum of understanding between Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and Finland's Nokia Group. — VNA/VNS PhotoThống Nhất

HELSINKI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation met with representatives of leading Finnish enterprises, within the framework of their official visit to the European country in Helsinki on October 21 afternoon (local time).

At the meeting, Finnish Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen stated that over the past decades, Finland and Việt Nam have built a strong cooperative relationship based on mutual respect, regular exchanges, and close business ties. Having established diplomatic relations more than 50 years ago, the two countries have seen their economic and trade relations grow remarkably in recent years, with Việt Nam becoming Finland’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

He emphasised that Finnish businesses are proud to be active partners in Việt Nam’s growth journey in such fields as clean energy, digitalisation, information technology, construction, maritime industries, and water management. Finland regards Việt Nam not only as a dynamic and rapidly developing market but also as a partner in fostering smart, green, and sustainable growth.

Looking toward the future, Finland also sees great potential to strengthen bilateral cooperation in building resilient economies capable of thriving in a green and digital future, while jointly exploring new partnerships that create real value - not only economically, but also for the environment and for future generations, the minister stated, affirming that Finland stands ready to work with Việt Nam to elevate the bilateral relationship to new heights.

At the meeting, representatives of leading Finnish enterprises in the fields of circular economy, industry and energy, technology, services, and infrastructure shared their ideas, valuable experiences, and concrete cooperation orientations. They proposed several initiatives to open new areas of cooperation in line with global development trends and the strategic interests of both countries.

General Secretary Lâm told participants that during his official visit, the bilateral relationship has been elevated to a Strategic Partnership, which, he stressed, marks a major opportunity to advance economic, trade, and investment relations - key pillars of bilateral cooperation - to a new level.

He shared that Việt Nam is continuing to pursue a high-quality development strategy with a strong focus on science and technology, green economy, digital transformation, and innovation. It is also expanding its markets with international partners, constantly improving the investment environment and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, while promoting breakthrough, flexible, and more favourable policies.

Welcoming the proposals from Finnish enterprises in the field of circular economy, the General Secretary affirmed that Việt Nam considers businesses as the centre of development and the driving force to realise its aspiration of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045. He emphasised that Việt Nam is committed to continuously improving the investment and business environment, and building a dynamic and transparent market economy driven by innovation and centred on people.

In the time to come, General Secretary Lâm stressed the importance of encouraging the business communities of both countries to further strengthen exchanges, connectivity, investment, and cooperation in areas of mutual strength and shared interest such as renewable energy, clean industry, environmental technology, forest resource management, education, science and technology, and innovation.

He urged the two sides’ governments, ministries, agencies, and localities to continue close coordination and provide more practical support to the business communities, while creating an open, stable, and transparent investment environment, and encouraging public–private partnerships, research collaboration, training, and technology transfer.

The Party chief expressed his belief that the future holds vast potential, and the two sides can work together to build a model of cooperation between a developed Northern European economy and a dynamic Southeast Asian nation. This is not only joint work between the two governments but also between their business communities, based on mutual trust, respect, and shared development.

At the meeting, General Secretary Lâm and the high-level delegations of Việt Nam and Finland witnessed the signing of several cooperation documents between the two countries. These included a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Việt Nam’s Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group and Finland’s ICEYE on the research and development of Earth observation satellite technologies; and another MoU between Viettel and Nokia Finland on digital transformation and the development of next-generation telecommunications infrastructure in Việt Nam.

Additionally, the Việt Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and Nokia signed an MoU to develop VNPT’s radio access networks in Việt Nam’s Hà Nội, border provinces, and southern regions for 2025–2026, while VNPT and F-Secure of Finland inked an agreement on strategic cooperation in cybersecurity to protect citizens from cyberattacks and online fraud, and to expand collaboration in the Asia-Pacific market.

Another MoU was also inked between Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company of Việt Nam and Airways Aviation of Finland to train high-quality human resources for the international aviation industry.

Later in the afternoon, the Việt Namese leader and his entourage visited Nokia’s Executive Experience Centre. — VNA/VNS