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

Duringtheir talks in Hanoi on September 6, Minister of Labour, WarInvalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Finnish LabourMinister Anni Sinnemaki agreed to continue cooperation in labour andpolicies on labour ties under a memorandum of understanding signed bythe two countries’ Prime Ministers last November in Vietnam .

Theyaffirmed their commitment towards the common goal of increasinginformation and sustainable cooperation relating to employment betweenthe two countries.

According to Minister Anni Sinnemaki, there isno need for foreign workers in Finland at present, but the demandwill increase in the coming decade, particularly in the health care,engineering and construction sectors as the country faces an ageingpopulation.

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

TheMinister expressed her satisfaction with the initial success of acooperation project which sent 17 Vietnamese workers to Finlandbetween the South Ostrobothnia region and the Hanoi IndustrialVocational Training College .

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

MinisterAnni Sinnemaki is leading a delegation of the Finnish Ministry ofEmployment and the Economy on a working visit to Vietnam fromSeptember 5-9.

While in Vietnam, the Finnish delegation will holddiscussions and meet with leaders of the Ministry of Industry andTrade, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Hanoiand 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./.