Party General Secretary Tổ Lâm and his spouse. — VNA/VNS Photo

HELSINKI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, his spouse and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation left Helsinki on Wednesday afternoon (local time), concluding their three-day official visit to Finland at the invitation of Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

During the visit, General Secretary Lâm held talks with President Stubb, witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between the two countries, had meetings with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Chairperson of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) Tiina Sandberg, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Paula Risikko, and representatives of outstanding Finnish enterprises as well as the Finland-Việt Nam Friendship Association. The Party chief attended a special concert co-organised by the Vietnamese Embassy and the Helsinki administration, visited the Executive Experience Centre at the Nokia global headquarters in Finland and Aalto University, and met with Vietnamese students.

The trip was a great success with outstanding achievements. Việt Nam and Finland issued a joint statement on establishing a strategic partnership. This partnership builds on 52 years of friendship and multifaceted cooperation based on trust, equality, and mutual respect, aiming to deepen bilateral and multilateral ties for the benefit of both peoples, while promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in accordance with the UN Charter, international law, and principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference.

Both sides decided to further increase bilateral high-level visits and contacts across all channels between Authorities of Finland and the Communist Party, the State, the Government, the National Assembly, and local authorities of Việt Nam in order to strengthen political cooperation and mutual understanding.

The two sides are determined to establish an annual strategic consultation mechanism on regional and international issues, coordinate to address traditional and non-traditional security challenges, as well as to review and update on cooperation activities in bilateral relations, including discussions between both sides’ defence and public security sectors.

They emphasised close cooperation in international and regional organisations supporting multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement and adherence to international law.

Key cooperation areas include political-diplomatic collaboration; economic-trade-investment; science-technology, innovation and digital transformation; education-training, labour, development; agriculture-environment, energy, infrastructure, transportation; people-to-people exchange to strengthen friendship and enhance mutual understanding.

The official visit took place at a time when the two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1973-2023), marking a milestone in sustainable cooperation and opening a new phase of cooperation towards the next 50 years. This is an important opportunity for the two countries to reflect on their successful cooperation, set out major orientations for the future, creating new momentum for the relationship and elevating the traditional friendship and multifaceted collaboration to a new height. — VNA/VNS