Representatives of Finland and Vietnam shake hands at the signing of the bilateral framework agreement on the use of the Public Sector Investment Facility on January 21 - PHOTO: EMBASSY OF FINLAND IN HANOI

HCMC – Finland will provide over US$100 million for public investment projects in Vietnam starting this year, under a bilateral framework agreement on the use of the Public Sector Investment Facility (PIF) funded and guaranteed by the Finnish Government.

The agreement was signed at a ceremony held on January 21. According to Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam Kari Kahiluoto, he and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha were authorized to sign the agreement.

The Finnish ambassador said that the PIF is aimed at providing financial support for public investment projects in developing countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and by utilizing advanced Finnish technology.

PIF will support investment projects in the fields of water supply, environmental sanitation, environment protection, climate change response, energy and clean technology.

Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland, in a pre-recorded remark said that he expects that with the PIF, Vietnam will have additional public investment funding, while Finnish companies with years of experience, expertise and suitable technology solutions will have better access to the Vietnamese market.

Skinnari added that the implementation of the agreement would also contribute to the long-term and effective partnership between Vietnam and Finland.

The two countries established diplomatic ties over 50 years ago, with the two-way trade surging fourfold over the past decade.