Export promotion trip to Bulgaria and Romania by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen
Press release 159/2007
29 August 2007
Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, will take an export promotion trip to Bulgaria and Romania on 3–5 September. The minister will be accompanied by a business delegation comprising more than 20 people including, among others, representatives of the paper, defence, logistics, communications, metals, environment, finance and energy sectors. Tuomo Rönkkö, President and CEO of Eltel Networks Corporation, will head the business delegation.
The purpose of the visit is to present Finnish expertise to Bulgarian and Romanian authorities and companies, and to gather current information about trends in the two countries’ operating environment for business. In addition, an objective is to promote investment, both investment in these countries and investment from these countries to Finland. Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession to membership of the EU at the start of this year and the recent favourable development of these countries’ economies create a base for new trade and investment possibilities.
The host of Minister Väyrynen’s visit to Bulgaria will be Petar Dimitrov, Minister of Economy and Energy. In addition, Minister Väyrynen will meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivailo Kalfin and other central ministers. In Romania Minister Väyrynen will meet, among others, with Adrian Cioroianu, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Ovidiu Silaghi, Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Trade, Tourism and Freelance Professions and host for the visit to Romania. Aside from exploring possibilities for economic and trade cooperation, in each county the meetings at minister level will address bilateral relations between Finland and the host country, topical regional issues and EU affairs.
In both Bulgaria and Romania, business seminars will also be arranged in cooperation with local bodies.
Additional information: First Secretary Tanja Grén, Unit for Central and South-Eastern Europe, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 160 55278, and Ossi Martikainen, Special Adviser to the Minister, mobile tel. + 358 40 592 6769