During his working trip to attend the high-level joint discussion session of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, on the afternoon of September 22 (local time), General Secretary and President To Lam had meetings with President of Timor Leste José Ramos-Horta, President of Switzerland Guy Parmelin, and President of Finland Alexander Stubb.
At the meeting, President of Timor Leste José Ramos-Horta highly appreciated the positive development of Vietnam - Timor Leste relations with increasingly strengthened political trust and cooperation in many fields continuing to be expanded.
President Ramos-Horta agreed to continue to promote cooperation between the two countries to be increasingly practical and effective. In the immediate future, the two sides will hold the first meeting of the bilateral Joint Committee to specifically exchange views on plans and areas of cooperation, including considering areas where Vietnam can support Timor Leste to strengthen economic autonomy, develop private enterprises, improve institutions, and develop infrastructure.
The General Secretary and President requested the two sides to continue to closely coordinate, effectively implement the high-level agreements and common understandings that have been reached, strengthen delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, creating more motivation for bilateral cooperation; and at the same time promote substantive cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, telecommunications, education and training and people-to-people exchanges.
Vietnam is ready to continue sharing experiences, supporting Timor Leste to promote its role as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the role of ASEAN Chair in 2029 and increasingly effective regional integration.
At a meeting with Swiss President Guy Parmelin, the Swiss President emphasized that his upcoming visit to Vietnam will be an important visit, contributing to further strengthening relations between the two countries, on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of relations, wishing to become an important economic and trade partner of Vietnam, commensurate with the potential of each country. The President proposed that the two sides soon have joint research cooperation projects in the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, green energy and digital economy.
The General Secretary and President proposed that Switzerland encourage and create favorable conditions for Swiss corporations to increase investment in Vietnam in Switzerland's strengths. At the same time, he requested Switzerland to share experiences and support Vietnam in financial technology, building international financial centers, digital finance, blockchain and developing high-quality human resources in technology.
The two sides need to effectively implement the contents of the Comprehensive Partnership framework with specific cooperation projects, promote room for economic cooperation, promote trade and investment cooperation, and strive to bring the trade turnover of the two countries to more than 2 billion USD by 2030.
At the meeting, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that the two sides are actively implementing specific steps to concretize the results of General Secretary and President To Lam's visit to Finland in October 2025. In the coming time, the President wishes the two sides to continue to promote cooperation in areas of mutual concern.
The General Secretary and President affirmed that Vietnam values and wishes to continue to bring the Strategic Partnership relationship into depth, substance and effectiveness with Finland.
The General Secretary and President requested the two sides to continue to maintain exchanges and contacts at all levels, promote the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms; promote cooperation in all fields.
Regarding trade, the General Secretary and President said that the current 200 million USD turnover between the two countries is commendable but does not reflect the true potential of the two sides, and needs to be promoted more strongly in the coming time.
The two leaders agreed to continue to coordinate closely, further promote the potential and strengths of each country, strengthen the connection between businesses, research institutes, universities and innovation centers; strengthen coordination at multilateral forums, and support each other at the United Nations and international organizations.
