Hanoi (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang hosted separate receptionsin Hanoi on July 13 for Finnish Ambassador Ilkka Pekka Simila and GreekAmbassador Nikos Kanellos who came to bid farewell to the State leader.

Meeting with Finnish Ambassador Simila, President Quang lauded thediplomat’s effective and positive contributions to strengthening the friendshipand multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Finland over the past years.

Having expressed his delight at the sound partnership between the twocountries in all fields, especially in politics-diplomacy, trade anddevelopment cooperation, he noted that Vietnam and Finland have maintained theexchange of delegations and meetings at all levels and supported each other atregional and international forums. Two-way trade was nearly 330 million USD in2016 and 185 million USD in the first five months of 2017.

The State leader thanked the Finnish Government for its provision of ODAfor Vietnam over the past years, adding that Finnish-funded projects have beencarried out effectively, especially in poverty reduction, clean water supply,rural development, forestry management and innovation, thus contributing greatlyto Vietnam’s socio-economic development and international integration.

As Vietnam-Finland relations have shifted from development cooperationto win-win partnership, the two countries have expanded cooperative ties todifferent areas, especially education-training and science-technology, he said.

The President highly evaluated the effectiveness of the Vietnam-Finland InnovationPartnership Programme in the second phase, and the signing of a memorandum ofunderstanding between the Ministry of Science and Technology and Finland’sTEKES Foundation in March 2016 that aims to support joint projects, technologytransfer and commercialization of research results between businesses andresearch institutes of the two nations.

He also applauded Finland’s initiative to set up a bilateral strategicpartnership in education, renovation, information and communication technology,water management, forestry and clean technology, saying that that the idea isfeasible.

For his part, Ambassador Simila said Vietnam and Finland still hold potentialsfor stronger cooperation, adding that the upcoming visit to Finland by VicePresident Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh in October this year will be a good chance for thetwo sides to enhance their cooperative ties in promising areas, especiallyeconomy, trade, education and technology.

At the reception for Greek Ambassador Kanellos, President Quang expressedhis pleasure at the fine development of friendship and cooperative relations betweenthe two countries, and appreciated the diplomat’s contributions to bilateralties.

He affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to developingfriendship and all-round partnership with Greece.

Noting that Vietnam and Greece have supported each other at multilateralforums and international organisations, President Quang proposed the two sidescontinue coordinate closely at the UN and ASEAN-EU and ASEM mechanisms.

Having thanked Greece for its backing Vietnam in developing relationswith the European Union (EU) and the Greek parliament’s ratification of theVietnam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the President proposedGreece supports the early signing and approval of the EU-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement, which he believes that will open up new cooperation prospectsbetween Vietnam and the EU as well as between Vietnam and Greece.

He suggested that the two sides continue boosting cooperation inmaritime economy, shipping, shipbuilding, agriculture and tourism.

Vietnam will create optimal conditions for businesses of both sides toexpand their partnership, initially speeding up the signing of a double taxavoidance agreement and a shipping agreement, he said.

For his part, Ambassador Kanellos affirmed that Greece will work harderto promote relations between the EU and Vietnam.

He praised Vietnam’s achievements in national development andconstruction, and promised to continue contributing to the enhancement ofrelations between Greece and Vietnam.-VNA