Haavisto congratulated Vietnam on its successful containment of COVID-19 and voiced his belief that both sides will overcome negative impacts of the pandemic to foster bilateral ties more strongly in the time to come.
The two officials agreed that Vietnam and Finland will resume mutual visits as soon as conditions allow while still maintaining bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Minh and Haavisto also discussed measures to bolster bilateral economic, trade and investment links as the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has come into force, along with ways to strengthen cooperation in highly potential areas such as education-training, science-technology, development cooperation, and the environment.
The Finnish minister congratulated Vietnam on its successful performance as Chair of ASEAN in 2020 while highly valuing the country’s role, position, and efforts as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.
Minh asked Finland to keep supporting, assisting, and sharing with Vietnam in issues of common concern within the frameworks of the UN and other multilateral forums.
He stressed that Vietnam is ready to act as a trustworthy bridge between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU.
