Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Le Hong Son made the remarks at a meeting with Vice Mayor of Tampere city of Finland Ilkka Sasi on October 13, Hanoi Times reported.

In the context of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Finland, the visit of Tampere's Deputy Mayor aims to strengthen the ties between the two countries and between Hanoi and Finnish localities.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Le Hong Son and Vice Mayor of Tampere Ilkka Sasi on Oct 13. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Sasi expressed Tampere's keen interest in collaborating with Hanoi in areas of mutual benefit such as smart urban development, vocational training, and high-tech development.

Also at the meeting, a representative from the TAKK vocational training school mentioned their efforts to attract skilled workers for training, including those from Vietnam, to address the labor shortage in Finland. Consequently, the potential for educational cooperation between Tampere and Hanoi is seen as promising in the near future, he noted.

Vice Chairman Le Hong Son welcomed the information shared by the Tampere delegation, noting that the Finnish city’s goals coincide with Hanoi's development orientation.

Son noted as the national capital, Hanoi plays a pivotal role in politics, trade, culture, education, science, technology, and international engagement.

He added that Hanoi is committed to fostering innovation and has made significant progress in various fields. “The city is on its way to becoming the country's innovation hub, with a focus on high technology, IT, high-tech agriculture, and biotechnology,” he noted.

In the realm of high technology, Hanoi currently manages the Hoa Lac high-tech park, which focuses on research and transfer of technology. The city is also implementing smart city initiatives using Industry 4.0 technologies to address urban management, wastewater treatment, healthcare networks, education, and social security.

Son underscored Hanoi's role as a major educational center, home to one-third of the country's universities and scientists.

“Vocational training is a critical area for Hanoi to develop high-quality vocational training centers,” he said.

He mentioned that the local government is implementing policies to encourage local and international vocational training for students, at the same time promoting partnerships between Hanoi's vocational training institutions and international counterparts.

Regarding recent cooperation with Finland, Son noted that in 2019, the Finnish company GreenFivi came to Hanoi to hire seasonal forestry workers. The city is actively working with Finnish entities, including the Hanoi Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, to foster collaboration in labor and vocational training.

“Hanoi consistently supports and facilitates Finnish businesses, especially Tampere, to explore the investment environment and expand their operations in the city,” Son said.

He expressed confidence that, built on the already solid bilateral cooperation, the relationship between Hanoi and Tampere will continue to grow, yielding practical and effective achievements.

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan (R) and Vice Mayor of Tampere city Ilkka Sasi. Photo: SGGP

Earlier, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan hosted a reception for the Vice Mayor of Tampere, saying that the city is aiming to build a smart city and a regional innovation and creativity hub, with a focus on digital economy and green growth, VNA reported.

Speaking highly of Finland’s education potential and strengths, Hoan hailed the positive results of education cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and the European country through various joint projects among schools. He expressed his belief that these cooperation models could be spread in the future.

Introducing Tampere, the third largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 400,000 people, Sasi said Tampere is also focusing on developing IT. He believed that cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and Tampere in this field would benefit both sides in their development efforts.

On the back of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the two countries as well as Tampere and Ho Chi Minh City are well-positioned to further nurture their trade and investment ties.

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