Summary:
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen believes that the rise in the standard of living in Finland would not have been possible without foreign investments. Mr Mykkänen believes that promoting free trade can bring Finland plenty of new business opportunities. The minister is not concerned that the increase of Chinese investments in Finland would result in Finnish jobs disappearing abroad but believes that behind the investment boom is China’s need to control overheating in its own economy. Mr Mykkänen points out that international trade requires commitment to the same basic rights but admits that China is a challenging country when it comes to e.g. getting it to comply to the international basic rights of workers.

Summary:
85% of Finns believe development cooperation is fairly or very important, a survey commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs shows. The share of Finns who believe development cooperation is very important has increased as has the share of those who would like to raise development cooperation funds. When it comes to targets of development aid, education gains the most support from Finns, followed closely by helping women and girls.

Media:  YLE Uutiset
Date: 29.6.2017
Journalist: Lauri Miikkulainen
Main source: -0101

Summary:
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen met with British Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Price on 22 June. According to Mr Mykkänen, Lord Price said Britain has no intention of setting up a customs barrier and that the country plans to hold on to e.g. product standards and testing requirements even after leaving the EU. It has been a year since the Brexit vote, and Mr Mykkänen says it is unfortunate that there have been only few answers to questions that are important to Finland. Mr Mykkänen estimates that the meeting with Lord Price indicated that Britain might in the future rely more on the WTO, which may be a good thing for Finland.

Summary:
The chairmans of the Finnish-Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation met in St. Petersburg at the end of last week in connection with the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Finnish chairman, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen, says that during the meeting with Russian vice prime minister Dmitri Kozak solutions were sought to concrete problems facing Finnish businesses. According to Mr Mykkänen, the recovery of the Russian economy seems to be even stronger than expected and foreign investors were more eager to participate in the economic forum. He estimates that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke at the forum, has adopted a more humble tone and put more emphasis on the economy.

Summary:
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Development Kai Mykkänen participated in St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017 and commented on the Russian President’s speech. According to Minister Mykkänen, the country’s acute bankruptcy has been cancelled. He says that Russia might focus more on the economy in the next couple of years and this could mean calmer times when it comes to foreign policy. Minister Mykkänen estimates that the country will probably not reach its goal to exceed the average of global economic growth.

Media: Helsingin Sanomat
Date: 2.6.2017
Journalist: Pekka Hakala
Main source: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Development Kai Mykkänen

Summary:
Upi Talsi writes in a Turun Sanomat column that free trade and trade limitations have recently made the headlines, and the renaissance of trade policy began with the TTIP negotiations. Now, it is said the negotiations have « entered the ice age » along with President Trump. The free-trade agreement between EU and Canada, CETA, was signed in autumn 2016, while the free trade agreement between EU and South Korea took effect in 2011. According to Mr Talsi, since then EU’s exports to South Korea have doubled. He points out that free trade agreements benefit Finland.

Summary:
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Development Kai Mykkänen estimates that the fear of a lack of skilled workforce is slowing down foreign businesses’ investments in Finland. Mr Mykkänen believes Finland should invest in increasing engineer training and marketing know-how in order to get international businesses interested in the country.

Media:  YLE Uutiset
Date: 16.5.2017
Journalist: Carolus Manninen
Main source: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Development Kai Mykkänen

Summary:
The National Audit Office of Finland (VTV) demands Finland to improve the transparency of the use of funds in multilateral development co-operation. According to VTV, development co-operation is also too fragmented which makes it more difficult to coordinate actions and hinders information flow and reporting. VTV gives the Ministry for Foreign Affairs positive feedback for the ministry’s systematic efforts to develop the effectiveness of development co-operation and for active participation in international organisations financed by Finland.

Media:  Aamulehti
Date: 9.5.2017
Journalist: STT
Main source: –