Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Toivakka to travel to Washington

Press release 65/2016
12 April 2016

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Lenita Toivakka will travel to Washington D.C., USA, on 13-17 April. In Washington, she will meet United States Trade Representative Michael Froman and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews, and speak at an event on promoting women in business.

Minister Toivakka will also take part in the World Bank Group Spring Meeting and the Development Committee Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The keynote speakers at the Plenary Meeting will be President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The main theme of the Development Committee is forced displacement. The discussion will also address prevention of natural disasters, including disaster risk management in the work of the World Bank Group.

Minister Toivakka, together with Minister of Finance Alexander Stubb, will meet World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. The meeting will focus on the role of the World Bank in finding solutions for the problems of international migration. Minister Toivakka will meet senior management of the World Bank to discuss development issues in particular. She will also participate in the World Bank Group's Advisory Council on Gender and Development, and open a panel discussion on disability issues together with the rap artist Signmark. Themes of other high level discussions on Minister Toivakka's agenda include education, equality and the general development agenda of the World Bank.

Inquiries: Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Marja Koskela, tel. +358 40 352 0463, Counsellor Leena Ritola, Unit for Development Financing Institutions, tel. +358 295 351 524.