Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari speaks during a meeting with Korea's Minister for Trade Yoo Myung-hee at Lotte Hotel Seoul, June 17. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
As the world tries to pull out of the COVID-19 pandemic together, Finland is seeking to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties with Korea. Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari flew to Korea last week for a three-day visit to discuss bilateral trade relations as well as a green transition and post-COVID-19 exit strategies.
"Finland has the ability to combine development cooperation and foreign trade for one minister, and, actually, it's very unique, globally speaking. It's very important for multilateral and global cooperation, because we can combine development aid and trade together. And that's why Finland is very successful at the global level," Skinnari told The Korea Times, June 18, explaining the singularity of his post.
Diplomatic relations are very important for Finland, which has been a very active player when it comes to global relations for decades, he said.
"We see that we are very similar to South Korea in many ways. We both have big neighbors geopolitically and we feel that Finland and South Korea are like-minded and very good partners and friends in international affairs," Skinnari said.
As part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Skinnari is in charge of trade policy and international commercial activities as well as development cooperation. He met with his counterparts in Korea ― Minister for Trade Yoo Myung-hee for talks on bilateral trade and green collaboration; Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hye-sook for cooperation in innovation, such as 5G, 6G and artificial intelligence (AI); and Vice Minister for Land and Infrastructure Yun Seong-won for post-COVID-19 air travel.
"Korea is a very important trading partner for Finland. We see huge opportunities in the future, because we have so many similarities in our skills. And our companies, especially in the field of technology, digital services and climate-sustainable solutions, are world leaders. So together, we have plenty to offer to global markets. And of course, Finland serves as a hub for Korean growth companies and startups because we are well-known for the startup ecosystem and can serve as a hub for the European market," he said.
"With Korea's Green New Deal and our exit strategy from COVID-19, we can do a lot together since we have exactly the same strategic focus areas. If we look at the European Union and Finland's Green Deal package, we also emphasize green transition, digitalization, labor markets and future opportunities for young people."
Finland is a leading country of innovation, especially known for its startup ecosystem which provides a stable business environment for startups.
"The Finnish startup ecosystem wants to embrace the Korean market and I think this can benefit both countries ― we can build up the ecosystem not just here in Korea or Finland, but for global markets. New innovations such as digital, green transition and e-commerce are something we see a lot of potential, but we are also paving the way in the energy sector and circular economy," Skinnari said.
Minister Skinnari introduced some of the major Finnish companies operating in Korea, bridging the two countries in diverse ways.
"Wartsila is a leading provider of maritime and energy sources in a sustainable way and we really look forward to them starting new projects in different parts of Korea, especially Busan. We also have Valmet, which is a leading industrial manufacturer for process technologies. With their solutions, we can really make climate-friendly companies in very traditional industries such as forest industry. Neste is a world leader in biofuels and Konecranes is a leader in industrial lifting. Then we have Nokia, which is providing very competitive 5G solutions and already working on 6G, which raises the productivity of industries and limits climate change," he said.
Finnair CEO Topi Manner accompanied Skinnari for this trip as the flag carrier of Finland is just waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to subside to open their Helsinki-Busan route, which would be the first direct flight to Europe from Korea's second-largest city.
"We believe that after the pandemic, our trade will come back very strong. We will focus on our trade and connections between Finland and Korea. We see a lot of potential in tourism from both sides. We believe that once we get more air routes and new roads to Seoul and Busan, more people from Finland and other Nordic countries would love to spend their holidays in Korea. We also welcome more and more Korean people coming to Finland to experience our nature and hiking opportunities," Skinnari said.
 |
| Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, right, bumps elbows with Korean Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hye-sook at Kensington Hotel Yeouido in Seoul, June 18. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT |
Ambitious carbon neutrality goal
Finland pledged to be carbon neutral by 2035, which is one of the most ambitious targets worldwide and the Finnish government clarified that climate action must be economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.
"We also have very practical carbon neutrality roadmaps composed together with industries with a strong R&D focus in different sectors such as energy, chemical industry, agriculture, transportation, textile industry, and so forth. So, we have some 10 different sectors and we combined these sectors together at the end and this is very unique in the world. We are very strategic and we take concrete actions," Skinnari explained.
"For instance, my home city of Lahti, which is a famous winter sports city, is already coal-free because we have invested into renewables. We have technology in waste to energy, biomass and centralized heating and electricity systems, so called combined heat and power (CHP). Our energy companies at the local level are mainly owned by the municipalities and the politicians decided what actually needs to be done. So we have a very strong commitment not just from the government, but also from the local level that climate change much be taken seriously. It is important to have the private sector also invest.
"One key is that we have our citizens on board. In Finland, we have made plans together with the people. Very practical things are discussed with the people and I think this is the very cornerstone of democracy and people support what we are planning together."
The minister presented Finland's carbon neutrality roadmaps to Korean counterparts during his visit.
"We agreed that we will continue strategic cooperation, not just bilaterally between the governments, but also at the local and regional level," he said.
Skinnari also showed support for Korea's bid to host the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 28) in 2023.
"Finland is very willing to support and partner with Korea in new, clean and renewable technologies. Our nuclear expertise also has something to share with Korea. We are a country of forests and our forest management expertise is very much sought all over the world. We are willing to cooperate with Korea with the sectors in which Finland is a global forerunner."
 |
| Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, fifth from left, and Finnish Ambassador to Korea Pekka Metso, sixth from left, pose during a meeting with the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development and four Korean startup companies that are going to Finland, June 18. Courtesy of Embassy of Finland in Korea |
Implementing gender equality
Finland also puts a lot of effort in fostering gender equality. It was the first country to grant women full political rights, while women lead most Finnish political parties now. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is the world's youngest female state leader.
"Finland is a good example of why it's so important to have gender equality. In Finland, women and girls have equal opportunity to access education, work and politics. And this has really helped Finland in many ways," Skinnari said.
"Finland has a long history in promoting women's rights. We started in 1907 when the first Parliament with women members was initiated in Finland. Then we have had many social reforms that benefited women in many roles. And after more than 100 years, we can say that gender equality is still one of the top priorities of Finland, also in our foreign and development policy."
Finland's Nordic social welfare model presents strong social and health services with a social security network that leaves nobody without benefits. Finland is a country that offers the same amount of parental leave regardless of gender, some 100 years after the Nordic country first introduced four weeks of maternity leave in 1917, the year Finland declared independence from Russia.
"The parental leave makes it possible for women to stay in work after having families. We encourage women to get back to work and the state provides proper childcare, family service and leave funding, which is based on income. Now we have parental leave that allows both parents to share childcare and it is increasingly used by fathers. In Finland, men and women are very equal in many ways," the minister said.
Finland wants to put gender equality into the global spotlight. As part of such efforts, Finland launched the International Gender Equality Prize in 2017 to stress the importance of gender equality to the international community.
"In Finland, we always think about how we pay attention to people who are the most vulnerable and women's rights are emphasized in Finland. We appreciate the cooperation we've been doing with Korea in the like-mindedness. I would like to mention the cooperation with Hanyang University with whom we organized a girls's coding course. So we really encourage women's participation in the ICT sector and in coding, which is traditionally seen as a field dominated by men. We are so proud that we have Hanyang University as a partner in this very important opening of having women on board when talking about new technologies and the technology sector," Skinnari said.
