Party General Secretary Tô Lâm and delegates. — VNA/VNS Photo

HELSINKI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm on Wednesday afternoon (local time) met with leaders of the Finland–Việt Nam Friendship Association (FVFA) and several Finnish experts who once engaged in development projects in Việt Nam.

The Party chief expressed his delight at meeting with the FVFA which was established in 1971, even before Việt Nam–Finland diplomatic relations began.

Deeply moved by the solidarity and longstanding support from Finnish friends, he recalled that thousands of Finns had once taken to the streets to demand an end to the war in Việt Nam, and noted Finland’s contributions to Việt Nam’s postwar recovery through clean water, poverty reduction, and rural development projects.

He urged the FVFA’s leaders to continue working closely with the Việt Nam–Finland Friendship Association and other mass organisations in both countries to expand exchanges and cultural promotion activities. Such efforts, he said, would deepen mutual understanding and broaden collaboration across sectors.

FVFA President Mauri Raveala and former Finnish experts welcomed the recent upgrade of bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership, expressing confidence that the General Secretary’s visit would inject new momentum into the relationship and further deepen the traditional friendship between both countries’ people.

Sharing personal memories and impressions of the land and people of Việt Nam, Raveala commended the country’s socio-economic achievements, especially its success in improving living standards.

She highlighted recent joint activities with Vietnamese partners, including cultural, art, and culinary exchanges that introduced Vietnamese culture to the Finnish public, alongside broader cooperation in education, green technology, and waste management.

Both sides agreed on the importance of fostering people-to-people exchanges and friendship, recognising them as a solid foundation for advancing bilateral ties across multiple sectors and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and sustainable development in the region and the world.

At the meeting, General Secretary Lâm and Finnish participants reaffirmed the need to enhance the role of mass organisations in driving and sustaining friendship between their people. They called for greater creativity in people-to-people diplomacy, engaging scientists, experts, entrepreneurs, and especially the younger generations so that the story of Việt Nam–Finland friendship continues to be written with renewed vigor and vision, reflecting the depth and dynamism of their newly elevated partnership. — VNA/VNS