His Excellency Keijo Norvanto, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland: We highly appreciate the investment environment in Dong Nai Province

H.E. Keijo Norvanto, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland

Vietnam and Finland are two countries with many similarities, after ending the war, they are both poor countries. Finland's resources are mainly water and forests. Finland overcomes difficulties and develops to become a developed country by focusing on high-tech research for application in socio-economic fields.

Technology helps the economy grow fast

 * Your Excellency Ambassador, would you please  share more about the process of Finland from a country with a difficult economy to a developed country?

            Briefly speaking, after the war ended at the end of the 19th century, Finland suffered very heavy losses, the economy was in difficult situation. Besides, our natural resources are only forests and water, so we have chosen to avoid difficulties by focusing on high-tech research to apply it to all fields such as: agriculture, forestry, industry. industry, trade, service, urban development.

Finland attaches great importance to supporting creative startups, building a chain of links from encouraging research topics, when the research achieves good outcomes, the businesses are engaged to apply for making products in order to increase productivity, quality and reduce product price. Since then, Finnish products have guaranteed quality, competitive prices and high added value because they are made in a closed chain. The reality has proven that science and technology have helped Finland become a developed country with high per capita income in the European region and in the world.

 * Which key industries does Finland choose to develop?

            - Since the end of the 19th century, Finland began to attract foreign investment for industrial development and Europe was the main export market for agricultural, forestry and industrial products. Finland focuses on developing agriculture, forestry and industry for export. Finland's later accession to the European Union has helped its economy develop even more.

 * What are the major strengths of Finnish businesses, sir?

 - Finland is a country with very developed agriculture, industry, and trade and services. In these fields, investment is made to apply high technology in production and business and towards a green and digital economy for sustainable development. Therefore, Finnish enterprises have the advantage in researching advanced equipment and machines, transferring high technology into the fields of agriculture, industry, trade and services. Especially, in the past one or two decades, in order to protect the environment and deal with climate change, businesses in industries that are at risk of causing pollution have gradually transformed into non-polluting fields. They are environmental friendliness.

In recent years, in addition to investing in industry and agriculture in Vietnam, Finnish enterprises have also expanded their investment in the fields of renewable energy, solar energy, and wind energy. Investment projects in Dong Nai as well as other provinces in Vietnam have modern and environmentally friendly technology.

Dong Nai is an attractive destination

 
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang, Vice Person of the Provincial People's Committee presents a gift to H.E. Keijo Norvanto, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland on the occasion of his working visit to Dong Nai

*How do you evaluate the investment environment of Vietnam in general and Dong Nai in particular?

 I realize that Vietnam has the advantage of large natural resources, abundant labor resources, deep and fast integration, political stability, and open-door policy. The factors are very favorable for foreign enterprises to invest in Vietnam in the fields of industry, agriculture, tourism, logistics, trade and services.

Dong Nai is one of the major economic centers of Vietnam, so it has been invested by more than 40 countries and territories. In particular, Dong Nai has a very developed industry, foreign enterprises investing in will easily become partners with each other. In my opinion, Dong Nai Province also has the outstanding advantage of being the transport connection center of the region with surrounding areas such as the Southwest, Central Highlands, and South Central regions of Vietnam. Through connecting highways, Ring roads and port systems, the province will receive large capital flows to invest in potential fields. Besides, the province can also rely on agriculture and forests for development and Finland has a lot of experience in this field and we can share, support and transfer advanced technology to Dong Nai. In the coming time, I will act as a bridge to introduce and connect Finnish businesses to Dong Nai to learn about reality so that they can and invest in high-tech projects in the province.

*Finland develops sustainably based on the pillars of agriculture and forestry, Dong Nai has many forests and agricultural production areas. In your opinion, what should Dong Nai do to fully exploit the advantages of agriculture and forestry to contribute to higher economic growth?

            - Since more than 20 years ago, Finland has been a leader in the program of sustainable economic development. Accordingly, we apply scientific advances in agricultural and forestry production to have organic products, less harmful to the environment. Every year, Finland harvests from 70-80 million m3 of wood, but before harvesting, all units and individuals must find a new place to plant a forest with an equivalent or larger area to compensate. Therefore, I think Dong Nai should apply science and technology in production and processing to improve the quality of products that can be exported to many markets. At the same time, Dong Nai can invite businesses to invest in developing forest eco-tourism.

            *Thank you!

                         Vi Quan