Vietnamese and Finnish officials have discussed increasing bilateral cooperation in employment, vocational training and migration labour.

During their talks in Hanoi on September 6, Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Finnish Labour Minister Anni Sinnemaki agreed to continue cooperation in labour and policies on labour ties under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries’ Prime Ministers last November in Vietnam .

They affirmed their commitment towards the common goal of increasing information and sustainable cooperation relating to employment between the two countries.

According to Minister Anni Sinnemaki, there is no need for foreign workers in Finland at present, but the demand will increase in the coming decade, particularly in the health care, engineering and construction sectors as the country faces an ageing population.

That will be a big opportunity for Vietnamese workers, she said.

The Minister expressed her satisfaction with the initial success of a cooperation project which sent 17 Vietnamese workers to Finland between the South Ostrobothnia region and the Hanoi Industrial Vocational Training College .

She described this as a foundation for establishing a partnership and long-term cooperation in training Vietnamese workers for the Finnish market in the coming time.

Minister Anni Sinnemaki is leading a delegation of the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy on a working visit to Vietnam from September 5-9.

While in Vietnam, the Finnish delegation will hold discussions and meet with leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City municipal people’s committees.

They are scheduled to take part in a workshop on clean production technology and visit several vocational training centres./.