Hanoi and Finland’s South Ostrobothnia region inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation enhancement as part of their leaders’ meeting in Vietnam’s capital city on January 7.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung (R) shakes hands with Chairman of the South Ostrobothnia Regional Council Kai Pontinen

Based on mutual respect, equality and win-win benefits, the MoU aims to foster bilateral friendship, cooperation and solidarity in line with Vietnamese and Finnish law and policy, and other international agreements signed between the two countries.

Per the pact, Hanoi and South Ostrobothnia will step up collaboration in human resources development, education-training, culture, sports, tourism, trade and services. 

The MoU was signed at the meeting between Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung and a visiting delegation from the Finnish region led by Chairman of its Regional Council Kai Pontinen.

Chung told the delegation that Hanoi and South Ostrobothnia, which celebrated their 10-year friendship in 2018, has together produced significant cooperation outcomes in trade, education, vocational training and cultural exchange. He underscored the sides’ regular exchange of high-ranking delegations, experts, and art troupes to foster bilateral ties.

Affirming that the freshly signed MoU will help enhance their collaboration, the Hanoi leader requested the sides expand their joint work regarding social welfare, investment promotion, tourism, smart city building, and environmental pollution treatment. These are strong sectors of South Ostrobothnia.  

Chung wished that the South Ostrobothnia authorities will continue helping guest workers from Hanoi access social welfare and education so that they could enhance their working skills and make contributions to cooperation between the two localities.

For his part, Pontinen agreed that Hanoi and South Ostrobothnia, after a decade of cooperation, have achieved upbeat outcomes across fields and that the MoU will fortify the friendship between the two localities as well as the two countries.

He recommended the sides promote partnership in labour training, education-training, culture, sports and tourism in line with signed agreements, contributing to socio-economic growth in the two localities and countries.-VNA