Welcoming them were Nguyen Dinh Viet, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, and leaders of several provincial departments and agencies.

At the meeting, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Viet warmly welcomed the ambassador and his spouse on their visit and working trip to Son La, and briefed them on several notable achievements of the province in politics, socio-economic development, national defence, and security.

He expressed his hope that in the coming time, the ambassador would continue to show interest in Son La and serve as an important bridge in promoting comprehensive cooperation between Son La province and Finland. 

He also wished the ambassador to provide information on market orientations, conditions, standards, and regulations for products eligible for export to the Finnish market, as a basis for Son La to develop production and sale plans. 

Son La commits to accompanying, supporting, and creating the most favourable conditions for Finnish investors to invest, produce, and do business in the province; to supporting tourism promotion; and to connecting the sale of the province’s agricultural export products in the Finnish market, he said.

The province hopes for assistance in strengthening and expanding relations with consultants and non-governmental organisations, as well as enhancing ties with bilateral and multilateral organisations, he added.

Ambassador Pekka Voutilainen thanked the provincial leaders for their warm welcome and expressed his strong impression of Son La’s potential, advantages, and the remarkable results it has achieved in socio-economic development in recent years.

He expressed his desire to continue learning more about Son La to strengthen relations and serve as a bridge for investment cooperation in the province, particularly in agriculture and agricultural exports. He also vowed to support Son La’s access to Finland’s advanced knowledge, management experience, and technologies, especially in wastewater treatment and urban environmental infrastructure management.

He affirmed that he would actively introduce Son La’s potential and strengths to Finnish businesses and investors, contributing to the increasingly substantive and effective development of the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Finland in general, and between Son La province and Finnish localities and enterprises in particular.