Summary:

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen says British Prime Minister Theresa May’s confident tone in outlining Britain’s Brexit stance can partly be explained as negotiation tactics. Mr Mykkänen points out that May’s speech seems to have made the starting position for negotiations more clear which can make it easier for the EU to put on a united front, which Mr Mykkänen sees as vital. He believes the Brits may calculate that they will reach a politically more acceptable result through a broad and compact free trade deal than by holding on to the internal market as a concept.

Summary:

Finland will continue bilateral support to Myanmar despite accusations by the UN that Myanmar is guilty of ethnic persecution of the Rohingya people. Petri Wanner at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs says that the human rights situation in Myanmar is being monitored closely and Finland is trying to influence it directly as well as through its partners the EU, EU member states and UN organisations. Finland is reluctant to withdraw support as it is targeted at those with the greatest needs. Developing trade relations with Myanmar has also an increasingly important role, and Team Finland is taking an export promotion trip to the country in February.

Summary:

Team Finland activities are being reformed based on working group suggestions in order to improve customer orientation and to eliminate overlaps. The Finpro and Tekes growth programmes will be combined into six larger programmes, and the possible full merger of Finpro and Tekes will be considered. According to Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn, regional growth and internationalisation coordinators will also be set up around the country to help businesses find new markets. Confederation of Finnish Industries CEO Jyri Häkämies, a member of the working group, called for increasing Team Finland resources. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen has appointed six assessment teams comprised of executives to find ways of opening bottlenecks in key target markets.

Summary:

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen opened on 16 November an electricity supply modernisation project in Dar es Salaam, Tansania, which Finland has financed for almost 30 million euro and in which Finnish company Eltel Networks has also been involved. The wider purpose of Mr Mykkänen’s trip to Tansania and Kenya is to open up export opportunities for Finnish companies in environmental technology and to promote implementing cleaner energy technology and fighting climate change. The Sipilä government favours financing investments when it comes to development co-operation. Mr Mykkänen describes it as a win-win situation when investments in infrastructure help improve the standard of living in poor countries and operational preconditions for businesses and at the same time Finnish businesses are given the opportunity to sell their know-how. Mr Mykkänen says that Finland now has an important momentum in promoting investment-based development projects and that many other countries are ahead of Finland in this respect.

Summary:

Verkkouutiset writes that the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade Kai Mykkänen is happy about the signing of the CETA trade agreement. However, there is a crisis of political leadership in the EU. Regional parliaments are threatening the progress of the EU, Hungary and Poland are distancing themselves from the basic EU values, no solution is found for the migrant crisis and a large founding member leaves the Union. According to Mr Mykkänen, member state leaders lack ability and desire to develop good solutions and the rise of populism is threatening to paralyse decision-making. The biggest problems are at the national level.

Summary:

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen does not believe the EU will soon impose sanctions against Russia because of the bombing of Aleppo. Mr Mykkänen says the situation in Aleppo is very serious and the West should show a united front in denouncing even indirect support to the kind of activity Mr Assad’s regime is engaged in with the support of Russian planes. However, new economic sanctions are still at a theoretical level. Mr Mykkänen emphasises that possible sanctions should be carefully planned so that they really are effective in relation to this crisis.

Media:  YLE Uutiset

Summary:

EU Trade Ministers have achieved minor progress in the embarrassing process that is the CETA deal, reports HS. According to Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström, there are efforts to get the Wallonia regional parliament behind the deal. A frustrated Minister for Foreign Trade Kai Mykkänen said the wording of the deal was polished for hours to please Germany and Belgium. He said “the finishing line is already visible, but style points have been lost”, and “the EU would not have been created in this manner.” According to Mr Mykkänen, the CETA process has weakened the Commission’s position in the TTIP negotiations.

Summary:

According to Minister for Foreign Trade Kai Mykkänen, the EU continues to negotiate the TTIP deal with the US despite the fact that France and Austria demanded the discontinuation of the negotiations on Friday. A clear majority of member states think the Commission’s mandate is still valid, he said. Mr Mykkänen expects the EU-Canada deal CETA to enter partially into force next year. A massive popular movement opposing both trade deals has been born in Europe, and the approaching elections in Germany, France, and Austria have caused politicians to reconsider their positions, too.

Media:  Helsingin Sanomat (E-edition)