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(VEN) - On March 17, in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland jointly organized the Vietnam-Finland Aid for Trade Forum. The forum was organized to promote business and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Vietnam and Finland have a long-standing traditional friendship. There have been many cooperation programs between the two countries at the state level and cooperation projects between the two business communities. Investment and trade exchange between Vietnam and Finland have increased continuously.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that in the past several years, trade between the two countries grew 20-40 percent annually.
In 2008, trade between Vietnam and Finland totaled US$239.6 million, an increase of 40 percent compared with that of 2007. In 2009, due to the adverse impacts of the global economic recession, trade between the two countries totaled only about US$230 million and that included US$150 million worth of Vietnam's exports to Finland and US$80 million worth of Finland's exports to Vietnam. Vietnam's major exports to Finland include coffee, rubber, footwear, textiles and garments, fine handicrafts, wood products, bicycles and spare parts. Vietnam imports from Finland products such as equipment, machinery, transport means, telecommunication means, textile, garment and footwear production materials, plastics, machinery spare parts, and iron and steel.
Presently, Finland has five investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of US$33.4 million and it ranks 51st among 89 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
At the above mentioned forum, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh said that the Finnish Government will provide Vietnam with more active support so that Vietnam can soon be recognized as a full market economy and favorable conditions will be created for the two business communities to increase cooperation.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade encourages and is willing to support Finnish investment in industrial projects in Vietnam.
Hoang Van Dung, the vice chairman of VCCI, said that Vietnam and Finland have economic structures that can complement each other, and that the international integration and development process in each country is opening new opportunities to tighten the relationship between the two business communities. Vietnam is now the president of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and via Vietnam, Finnish products can penetrate China and other ASEAN countries. Similarly, Finland is a bridge through which Vietnam can export to the large EU market with 27 member countries.
In the past years, Vietnam has achieved remarkable progress in building and improving the business environment. Vietnam has opened the door to foreign investors. Clear import, export policies have been applied to facilitate trade between Vietnam and foreign countries. Vietnam has a large, young workforce. These are the advantages of the Vietnamese market.
Presently, Finland is one of the most competitive economies in the world. Finland is a key member of the European Union (EU). The good relationship between Vietnam and Finland and the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership of Vietnam are the firm foundation for the business communities of the two countries to increase cooperation in order to promote the bilateral trade relations.
The Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam, Pekka Hyvone, believes that the Vietnam-Finland Aid for Trade Forum will contribute to opening a new development period in the multifaceted relationship between the two countries, which focuses on bilateral economic and trade cooperation./.
By Hung Cuong
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