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

On the morning of October 22, at the headquarters of the Finnish Parliament, General Secretary To Lam met with First Vice President of the Finnish Parliament Paula Risikko, promoting comprehensive cooperation and strengthening the relationship between the two countries.

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

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

Ms. Risikko emphasized that the visit opens a new phase of cooperation of historic significance in bilateral relations in all fields, especially on the parliamentary cooperation channel.

Recalling the positive results of the official visit of Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho to Vietnam in March 2024, Ms. Risikko expressed her joy that parliamentary cooperation is increasingly developing well and substantially, contributing to deepening the traditional friendship between the two countries.

General Secretary To Lam met with First Vice President of the Finnish Parliament Paula Risikko. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

Ms. Risikko sent greetings from Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Jussi Halla-aho to General Secretary To Lam, Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man and senior leaders of Vietnam.

Expressing his gratitude for the warm welcome and solemn reception that Ms. Risikko and the Finnish Parliament gave 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 the leaders of the Finnish Parliament to parliamentary cooperation and relations between the two countries.

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

General Secretary To Lam shared that Vietnam wishes to continuously consolidate and develop relations with Finland, in which the parliamentary channel plays a practical role in promoting and supervising 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 continue to be further promoted.

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

The two leaders agreed to continue strengthening parliamentary cooperation through maintaining regular delegation exchanges, especially at high levels; establishing friendship groups of parliamentarians in the two countries' National Assemblies and promoting exchanges between specialized committees; promoting the exchange of legislative experience, perfecting the legal framework, and creating favorable conditions for expanding cooperation in many areas where Finland has strengths and Vietnam has needs.

General Secretary To Lam asked the Finnish Parliament to urge the remaining seven countries in the European Union (EU) to soon ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to create favorable conditions for EU and Finnish investors to invest in Vietnam.

The General Secretary hopes that the Finnish Parliament will actively acknowledge and support Vietnam's progress in improving law enforcement and transparency in fisheries exploitation at European parliamentary forums; and urge the European Commission to soon remove the IUU "yellow card" on Vietnam's seafood exports. The General Secretary emphasized the hope that maritime cooperation will become a focus between the two maritime nations of Vietnam and Finland.

The two sides also discussed enhancing coordination at multilateral parliamentary forums, thereby demonstrating a common voice for peace, cooperation and sustainable development in the region and the world. Regarding the East Sea issue, the General Secretary asked Finland to support ASEAN's stance and viewpoint in handling the East 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 regards of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Jussi Halla-aho./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-hoi-kien-pho-chu-tich-thu-nhat-quoc-hoi-phan-lan-risikko-post1071995.vnp