Cooperation partnerships during the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki
Press release 440/2008
26 November, 2008
The main event of the Finnish Chairmanship of the OSCE, the OSCE Ministerial Council, will be organised at the Helsinki Fair Centre on 4-5 December. The preparatory meetings at the civil servant level will begin already on 2 December. Measured in the number of delegations, the meeting is going to be the largest international conference organised in Finland. Some 50 Ministers are expected to attend the meeting, which is more than in the OSCE Ministerial Councils in recent years. The number of international and domestic media representatives is approximately 250.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for the implementation of the conference, whereas the responsibility for the security arrangements belongs to the Ministry for the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. Several corporate partners are involved in the arrangements of the meeting.
In the meeting, the organisers aim to convey an image of Finnish expertise to the delegates and the international press, special emphasis being on logistics expertise, communications and data security arrangements, and Finnish design. At the same time, the Ministerial Council offers companies an opportunity to raise their profile in an international operating environment.
The key cooperation partners include:
The City of Helsinki – City Hall reception on 4 December for more than a thousand council delegates, media representatives, and members of the domestic cooperation network.
Helsinki City Transport (HKL) – The delegates and the press can use the public transportation free of charge for the duration of the meeting.
F-Secure – Data security solutions for workstations, servers and e-mail in the premises for the delegates and the press rooms.
Blancco – PC hard disk data erasure
Finnish Tourist Board, MEK - Visit Finland; Finland promotion during the meeting
Marimekko – The furnishings and decoration of the Helsinki Fair Centre
Suunto – Gifts for the ministers and delegations
The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) – The decoration of the yard and the interior spaces of the Fair Centre with Finnish spruces.
There are also several other co-operation partners involved in the meeting arrangements. The vehicles needed for transporting the delegates are offered by, for instance, Skoda, Toyota/Lexus, BMW and Bilia.
Additional information: Conference Coordinator Annikka Alanko, Finnish OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, tel. +358 40 754 1632, [email protected]