Finland to hold summit to promote investment

Finland Ambassador to Pakistan Hannu Rippati has said that Pakistan's textile industry is very famous in Finland and the country also exports sports equipment from Pakistan.

Speaking at the Express News programme 'Expresso', he said that keeping in view the opportunities in both countries, Finland will organise a seminar 'Doing Business in Pakistan' in Pakistan soon. Sharing details of the event, he further said that it would be an online platform where companies from Pakistan and Finland can register themselves. Then, all they have to do is share details of their products and if any company in Finland is interested, it will reach out to them.

During Covid-19, the trade between the two countries was greatly affected, but now this graph is improving, he said, adding that however, the trading ratio changes every year because sometimes Pakistan's exports to Finland increase while sometimes Finland exports more from Pakistan. He pointed out that last year more than 100 million euros of trade took place between the two countries.

A few days ago, Finland reopened its embassy in Islamabad. "We had closed our embassy in Pakistan a decade ago due to economic challenges and appointed a non-resident ambassador to Pakistan," said Rippati. Talking about the people of Pakistan, the ambassador said that Pakistanis are very hospitable. "They help everyone, not only me but my entire staff who came with me have found the people here very helpful."

The envoy said that the Finnish government does not offer any kind of scholarship programme for Pakistani students. However, private educational institutes offer scholarships and at present more than 1,000 Pakistani students are studying in Finland. Some students are pursuing diplomas and some studying at high schools.

Commenting on why Finland is the happiest nation in the world, the ambassador said that he believed that happiness is a state of mind. "Our mind is not affected by insecurities. Social security is very high in western countries that is why western countries top the index," he said. Secondly, Finnish people are happy because of their closeness to nature, he added.

The ambassador said that one of the major problems in Gilgit-Baltistan is that the forests have been cut down where there is a population. When the trees are cut, floods and landslides become common in the area. Landslides cause rivers to overflow. "In Finland, we have made a rule that if you have to cut down a tree, then plant two or three," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2023.