On October 15, in Hanoi, Acting Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung met and worked with Minister of Economic Affairs of Finland Mika Lintila and representatives of 18 Finnish companies operating in many fields, including telecommunications and ICT.

At the meeting, Acting Minister Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that the Government of Vietnam now considered ICT as a driving force for the country's development. Therefore, Vietnam welcomes foreign businesses to Vietnam for research and development of technology or cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises.

 Vietnam market is a large market with the population of 100 million. Vietnam is also the gateway to ASEAN and the world. At present, Vietnam ICT enterprises have expanded their markets to 25 countries with a population of more than 1 billion. Vietnam’s ICT has achieved a growth rate of 3 to 5 times the GDP growth rate, with an average annual growth of 25%.

 The cooperation between Vietnam and Finland can develop in different levels, from low to high. The most basic level is that Finnish companies bring their products to Vietnam. The next level is that Finnish companies can use ICT human resources in Vietnam. Some Vietnamese ICT products can access to the Finnish market and from there to the world. And even more, Finnish and Vietnamese companies work together to develop technology products in Vietnam.

 Minister Mika Lintila said Finland was one of the most innovative countries in the world and expressed his wish that governments and businesses of the two countries could cooperate to implement projects relating to e-government, 4G and network security.

The Acting Minister proposed the two ministries would jointly organize the Finnish Technology Enterprise Forum in Vietnam. This is an opportunity for enterprises of the two countries to contact and explore opportunities for business cooperation. He also hoped that Finland would support Vietnam in the development of the National Strategy 4.0.

 Many Vietnamese companies are operating in such fields as: AI, IOT, Big Data, so Vietnam is looking forward to cooperate with leading Finnish companies in these areas. The Acting Minister proposed that the Finnish government continued to grant scholarships for Vietnamese students.

 The Finnish Minister supported the proposals of the Acting Minister Nguyen Manh Hung and also expressed his wish that the cooperation between the two ministries and businesses of the two countries would continue to be strengthened and effective in the coming time.