Finland Opens Its Embassy in Qatar
Through a statement issued on the same day, the Ministry also emphasised that the Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari visited Qatar yesterday where he also opened the embassy which will be the representative of the Finnish state, and will stay in the country until February 7, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
In this regard, Minister Skinnari said that he will also meet with business representatives and researchers along the way. According to him, the purpose of the trip is to continue promoting relations and trade between Finland and Qatar.
As the Ministry explains, Finland sees Qatar as a considerable trade potential both in the short and long term.
“Qatar aims to diversify the structure of its economy through a green transition, building a knowledge-based economy, strengthening competitiveness, and investing in transport, education, healthcare and telecommunications. In these sectors, Finnish companies have top-class know-how and technology to offer,” the statement reads.
In addition, Minister Skinnar said that he is proud that his country is investing in the future. He added that Finland is investing internationally in terms of foreign relations and especially business, as in this case with Qatar.
Skinnari also mentioned the presence of Finnish companies in Qatar, saying that the newly started operations of Finnair in cooperation with Qatar Airways, between Doha and the Nordic countries is a great achievement.
Commenting on the opening of the Embassy, Finland’s ambassador to Qatar HE Pekka Voutilainen added this step will further strengthen the ties between Qatar and Finland.
He also revealed that in 1998 Finland and Qatar agreed to have embassies in each other’s capitals and now only after over 20 years have passed, it is finally becoming a reality.
Moreover, Ambassador Voutilainen noted that Finnish companies have a strong presence in Qatar in areas such as digitization, technology, aviation, education and clean technologies.
Previously, the Czech Republic also opened its first embassy in Doha. On October 26 of last year, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, after a two-day working visit, announced the official opening of the Embassy.
In this regard, the Foreign Ministry of the Republic said that the main purpose of the Minister’s visit was to support trade and cooperation between these two countries in the field of energy.
Thus, during the visit, the Foreign Minister presented the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in relation to the EU’s strategic cooperation with the Gulf and energy security.
