Economic and environment cooperation the focal points of neighbouring cooperation in 2011
Press release 77/2010
3 March 2011
On 3 March, the Government decided on the distribution of neighbouring area cooperation for the year 2011, in accordance with the proposal of Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen. Neighbouring area cooperation carried out in Northwest Russia in 2011 will focus especially on the promotion of economic cooperation. Projects will promote, among others, cooperation in innovation and nanotechnology and the preconditions for small and medium-sized enterprises. There will be projects to increase know-how of energy efficiency, the mobility of labour will be promoted and the fluency of cross-border goods transport will be improved. Another important form of economic cooperation is the project preparation support granted to small and medium-sized Finnish enterprises, demand for which has risen in recent years.
As to cooperation in the environmental sector, central projects are the waste water treatment projects and the environmental projects in agriculture, which are important for protection of the Baltic Sea. Through cooperation, St. Petersburg’s phosphorus load into the water body has been reduced to about one-third of the level in the 1990s. The projects have also offered Finnish companies the opportunity to participate as experts and equipment suppliers.
In the sector of nuclear safety, the largest projects focus on improving the safety of the Leningrad and Murmansk nuclear power plants close to Finland. With the help of Finnish experts, local expertise has been enhanced and good practices have been transferred to Russia; this is reflected in the improved safety of the plants. Through cooperation, Finland has created important cooperation relations with the Russian nuclear safety authorities.
In the social welfare and health care sector, the emphasis of project work is on infectious disease control, especially the prevention of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. The cooperation conducted by Finnish non-governmental organisations in Northwest Russia will also receive support from neighbouring area funds.
Neighbouring area cooperation is an important component of Finland’s foreign and security policy and implementation of the Government’s Russia Action Plan. The results of this cooperation were assessed in a comprehensive evaluation report published in January 2011. The report concludes that neighbouring area cooperation has fulfilled its mission well, and the projects carried out have achieved concrete results benefiting both parties. This cooperation will continue during the current year, too.
The Government granted 16 million euros for projects in neighbouring areas for 2011.
Additional information: Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Anneli Puura-Märkälä, Unit for Regional Cooperation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5625, and Petri Neittaanmäki, Senior Political Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 9 1605 6306