Väyrynen chaired EUROMED ministerial conference in Cairo

Press release 65/2008
27 February, 2008

Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen chaired the opening session of the ministerial conference between the European Union and the Mediterranean countries in Cairo on Wednesday. The topic of the conference was "Building an Enabling Environment for the EUROMED Information Society".

In his opening statement Väyrynen emphasised the significance of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, launched in 1995, to the economic development and stability of the region. He compared the partnership to the Northern Dimension which, similarly to the EUROMED, has evolved into an established element of the EU´s neighbourhood policy.

Corporations with their innovations and cooperation with the societies are in a crucial role in developing the ICT sector, said Väyrynen. The responsibility of the society lies in utilising the latest know-how and making it available to all citizens. It has a huge significance in social equality. Referring to the Finnish examples Väyrynen emphasised the importance of deregulating the ICT market and easy accessibility in creating economic growth and better education.

Väyrynen reckoned the development of the ICT sector worldwide would promote sustainable development in the environmental and economic sectors as well as equal opportunity within societies and between people, provided the emergence of a technology gap between the developed and developing world can be avoided.

Further information: Ossi Martikainen, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 40 592 6769, and Ambassador Risto Veltheim, Department for Africa and the Middle East, tel. +358 40 748 2697