Helsinki (VNA)– Vietnamese Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh has expressed her hope forstronger cooperation in all spheres with Finland while meeting Finnish officialsand entrepreneurs during her official visit to this European country fromOctober 16-19.

At a reception for Minister for Foreign Tradeand Development Kai Mykkanen on October 17, Vice President Thinh briefed onVietnam’s recent socio-economic achievements and thanked the Finnish Governmentfor providing Vietnam with official development assistance (ODA), which hasgreatly helped with the country’s development and international integration.

The Vice President asked the Finnish Governmentto continue assisting Vietnam, especially in the fields that both countriesprioritise.

In addition to information technology andeducation-training, the two nations should also enhance cooperation and shareexperience in finance, tourism, and small- and medium-sized enterprisessupport, she added.

Minister Mykkanen described Vietnam as a bright modelof poverty reduction, improvement of people’s living conditions and nationalindustrialisation, adding that it is also a prime example of Finland’sdevelopment cooperation with other countries.

He highly evaluated the bilateral finecooperation and the progress in Vietnam-EU partnership, particularly theconclusion of negotiations on the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. He said the signingof the FTA will create a favourable legal basis for boosting Vietnam’s tradeand investment ties with the EU, including Finland.

In the time ahead, Finland will prioritiseeconomic and trade cooperation with Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam should continueproviding optimal conditions for Finnish firms to invest, transfer technologyand do long-term business, especially in Finland’s strong fields like cleantechnology, information and communications technology, water management,agriculture and forestry, he added.

Meeting with Minister of Education and CultureSanni Grahn-Laasonen on October 18, Vice President Thinh expressed her delightat the development of bilateral relations, especially in education-trainingwhich can be seen through the singing of 17 memoranda of understanding on cooperationbetween Vietnamese and Finnish universities.

The potential for culturaland educational cooperation remains huge, she said, voicing her hope forstronger partnership in these spheres. She also called on Finland to grant morescholarships to Vietnamese postgraduates, increase training courses co-organisedby the countries’ educational establishments, and help improve the quality ofVietnam’s educational sector.

While applauding the bilateraleducation-training cooperation, Minister Grahn-Laasonen said it will remain apriority of the Finnish Government in the time ahead.

As part of her visit, Vice President Thinh alsoreceived representatives of Finnish agencies and businesses, including theFunding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) under the Ministry ofEconomic Affairs and Employment, the Meteorological Institute under theMinistry of Transport and Communications, elevator and escalator producer Kone,and Nokia Corporation.-VNA