News, 26.2.2009

Ambassadors to Bangkok, Tokyo and Cairo

The President of the Republic appointed today on the 27th of February, the following persons as Ambassadors:

Sirpa Mäenpää Appointment of Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Sirpa Mäenpää as Head of the Finnish Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand as from 1 September 2009.

Mäenpää has been performing the duties of Deputy Director General of the Department for Africa and the Middle East since 2007. She has served the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1983. She has served in various positions, i.a. as Director of the Department for Development Policy and the Department for Africa and the Middle East.

As for her career in Finnish diplomatic missions, Mäenpää has worked for the Embassy in Nairobi and as Chargée d'affaires in the Embassy in Managua in the years 2000- 2004.

Jari Gustafsson Appointment of Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Jari Gustafsson as Head of the Finnish Embassy in Tokyo, Japan as from 1 September 2009.

At the moment, Gustafsson is serving the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. This is a post held by him since 2007. During the period 2003-2006, he served as Deputy Director General of the Department for External Economic Relations of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. As for his career abroad, he has served as Counsellor of Industry in Finland's Permanent Representation to the OECD in Paris, and as a consultant on a project funded by the EU in Egypt and Lithuania.

Gustafsson joined the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1987, and served there in duties related to international trade and European integration and as Director of the foreign trade group from 1998 to 2003.

Roberto Tanzi-Albi Appointment of Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Roberto Tanzi-Albi as Head of the Finnish Embassy in Cairo, Egypt as from 1 November 2009.

At the moment, Tanzi-Albi has been serving as Director of the Unit for Europe Information of the Department for Communication and Culture since 2005. He entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1984. In the Ministry, he has worked i.a. for the Political Department and the Department for Communication and Culture. From 1998 to 2001, he served as Director of the Information Unit.

As for his career in Finnish diplomatic missions, Tanzi-Albi served the Finnish Embassy in Tallin as Minister Counsellor from 2001 to 2005, and, prior to that, the embassies in Mexico, Riad, Washington and Paris.