SDG Booster event brought together water-sector stakeholders from Vietnam and Finland

On 23rd November 2022, Finnpartnership organized a remote SDG Booster event, which brought together Finnish and Vietnamese water-sector stakeholders. The event was organized in collaboration with Finnish Water Forum, Finnish Embassy in Hanoi, Business Finland, Fingo and Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association. The event was produced by Vision Factory.

Opening remarks were given by Finland’s ambassador to Vietnam Mr. Touko Piiparinen, Finnpartnership’s Programme Officer Ms. Birgit Nevala and president of VWSA Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Diep. Introductory presentations were given by VWSA’s vice president Ms. Ha Thanh Hang, Finnish Water Forum’s Project Director for Vietnam Ms. An Thu Tran Minh, and Ms. Tran Huong Giang from UNDP Vietnam Accelerator Lab. The event also included presentations about the service offering from Finnpartnership, Business Finland, Ministry for Foreign Affairs Public Investment Facility instrument and Finnvera.

Participants were divided into three thematic “tents” for a matchmaking session, where the topics were Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), wastewater and SMART water. In these tents, opportunities for collaboration between Finnish companies and Vietnamese water utilities and companies were discussed, and tentative planning for project development took place.

The event saw a lot of interest, with over 40 Vietnamese and almost 20 Finnish water-sector stakeholders present. The Booster event was a continuation on the water-sector workshop organized in Vietnam in conjunction with the Team Finland delegation visit, lead by Minister for Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Antti Kurvinen. During this visit to Hanoi, Finnpartnership mapped local opportunities and challenges with Vietnamese water-sector companies and organizations. Read more about the delegation visit in our November newsletter.

For more information about the event and water-sector opportunities in Vietnam, kindly contact Finnpartnership’s Regional Coordinator for Asia Tam Nguyen, or Programme Officer Julian Blom.