Minister Väyrynen to make an export promotion visit to St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region
Press release 135/2009
18 May, 2009
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will make an export promotion visit to St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region on 20-22 May. He will be accompanied by a business delegation with almost 60 delegates.
During the visit, Väyrynen will meet Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko and Governor of Leningrad Region Valeri Serdyukov. The Minister will also participate in business seminars organised in collaboration with the city of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, and the Finnish-Russian contact forum for businessmen organised together with St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In addition, the itinerary will include visits to, for instance, Valio’s and YIT’s business premises and introduction to the innovation centre FinNode.
The purpose of the visit is to promote the operating conditions of Finnish companies in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region and to strengthen the investor status of Finnish companies. Furthermore, the goal is to identify new kind of business opportunities. The business delegation’s areas of priority include energy and the environment, infrastructure, logistics and construction, retail trade, services, and information and communications technology.
In 2008, the volume of trade between Finland and Russia amounted to almost EUR 18 billion, and Russia became our second largest trading partner. As concerns the regions of Russia, St. St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region are the most important trading partners for Finland and, traditionally, they have acted as a gateway for Finnish companies to the Russian market. Slightly over 600 Finnish companies have established operations in Russia, with over half of them in the St. Petersburg area. In 2008, the investment portfolio made up of Finnish companies was the third largest among foreign investments made in St. Petersburg.
Additional information: Advisor to the Minister Päivi Nevala, tel. +358 40 753 4375, and Counsellor Soili Mäkeläinen-Buhanist, tel. +358 40 753 2528