General Secretary To Lam met with First Vice President of the Finnish Parliament Paula Risikko

According to the VNA special correspondent, on the morning of October 22 (local time), at the Finnish Parliament headquarters in Helsinki, General Secretary To Lam met with the First Vice President of the Finnish Parliament, Paula Risikko.

General Secretary To Lam meets with First Deputy Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Paula Risikko. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

Warmly welcoming General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-level Vietnamese delegation, on their official visit to Finland, First Vice President of the Parliament Paula Risikko highly appreciated the important significance of the visit, especially the upgrading of relations between the two countries to a Strategic Partnership, and affirmed that after more than 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations, Vietnam is Finland's most important trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Ms. Risikko emphasized that the visit opens a new and historically significant phase of cooperation in bilateral relations across all fields, particularly through parliamentary cooperation. Recalling the positive results of the official visit of the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, to Vietnam in March 2024, Ms. Risikko expressed her pleasure that parliamentary cooperation is developing well and substantively, contributing to deepening the traditional friendship between the two countries. Ms. Risikko conveyed greetings from the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, to General Secretary To Lam, Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man , and other high-ranking Vietnamese leaders.

Expressing gratitude for the warm feelings and respectful welcome extended by Ms. Risikko and the Finnish Parliament to the delegation, General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated the role of the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish political system, as well as the positive contributions of Ms. Risikko and other leaders of the Finnish Parliament to parliamentary cooperation and bilateral relations.

The General Secretary affirmed that Vietnam always cherishes the valuable support that the Finnish people have given to Vietnam in the process of national development; he affirmed that Finland's non-refundable aid programs during the period when Vietnam began to open up have contributed to Vietnam's socio-economic achievements in recent years, especially in improving the lives of the people.

General Secretary To Lam shared that Vietnam wishes to continuously strengthen and develop relations with Finland, in which the parliamentary channel plays a practical role in promoting and monitoring the implementation of intergovernmental agreements, deepening understanding and trust between the two countries; he believes that with the upgrading of relations to a Strategic Partnership, cooperation in various fields and parliamentary cooperation will be further enhanced.

Both sides emphasized the important role of the parliaments of the two countries in supporting efforts to strengthen cooperation in economics, trade, investment, energy, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges; promoting the removal of procedural barriers and creating favorable conditions for citizens of both countries to live, study, and work in each other's territories.

The two leaders agreed to further strengthen parliamentary cooperation through maintaining regular exchanges of delegations, especially at the high level; establishing friendship parliamentary groups in the parliaments of both countries and promoting exchanges between specialized committees; and boosting the exchange of legislative experience, improving the legal framework, and creating favorable conditions for expanding cooperation in many areas where Finland has strengths and Vietnam has needs.

Scene of the meeting. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

General Secretary To Lam requested that the Finnish Parliament use its influence to encourage the remaining seven European Union (EU) countries to ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) as soon as possible, thereby facilitating investment in Vietnam by EU and Finnish investors. The General Secretary expressed his hope that the Finnish Parliament would actively acknowledge and support Vietnam's efforts to improve law enforcement and transparency in fisheries at European parliamentary forums; and urge the European Commission to lift the IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) fishing "yellow card" imposed on Vietnamese seafood exports. The General Secretary emphasized his desire for maritime cooperation to become a central focus between the two maritime nations of Vietnam and Finland.

The two sides also discussed strengthening coordination at multilateral parliamentary forums, thereby expressing a common voice for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development in the region and the world. Regarding the South China Sea issue, the General Secretary requested Finland's support for ASEAN's stance and views on handling the South China Sea issue on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam respectfully conveyed the greetings of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-hoi-kien-pho-chu-tich-thu-nhat-quoc-hoi-phan-lan-paula-risikko-20251022211636982.htm