Minister Tavio to attend World Water Forum in Indonesia

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend the World Water Forum in Indonesia on 19–22 May. The high-level political forum will strengthen the progress in international water issues initiated by the UN Water Conference.

The World Water Forum (WWF) is the world’s largest water sector event organised every three years by the World Water Council together with a rotating host country. The 2024 event is the tenth WWF and the first one to be organised in Southeast Asia. This year’s host country is Indonesia.

The WWF is a high-level political forum that strengthens the progress in international water issues initiated by the UN Water Conference in 2023. The event will be open to stakeholders, and it will feature an extensive fair and exhibition area for businesses and organisations. Tens of thousands of participants are expected to attend the event.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will lead a delegation of experts from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The delegation will also include the Finnish Water Forum (FWF), which represents stakeholders in the Finnish water sector, and water sector companies.

In Finland, international water issues are managed across administrative boundaries in cooperation between the relevant ministries, research institutes and civil society, creating opportunities for trade cooperation in the water sector. Finnish companies have high-level competence in and supply of water innovation and digital solutions for international water markets.

“Water is a vital part of sustainable development and an essential resource for all human activities. Finland has invested in comprehensive water resource management and sustainable use of water for decades. Our innovation capacity and technological capital enable us to offer effective water solutions to our partners across the world,” says Minister Tavio.

Minister Tavio will have meetings with his Indonesian ministerial colleagues, with the ministers responsible for foreign trade, development cooperation and water issues in Finland’s partner countries participating in the event, and with the leaders of international organisations. This year marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and Indonesia.

Indonesia offers many opportunities for Finnish companies

Indonesia is an interesting market for Finnish companies. Trading opportunities exist especially in energy and clean transition, in forestry and education and in digitalisation. Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest country in terms of both population and economy and a member of the G-20 group. Finland’s goods exports to Indonesia have been growing and amounted to EUR 282 million in 2022. Indonesia and the EU are currently negotiating a free trade agreement.

“Indonesia is an important trading partner for Finland. There is great potential for increasing trade thanks to innovative solutions developed by Finnish companies,” says Minister Tavio.