Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen said it should be developed more cooperation and joint projects between Arkhangelsk region and Finland in the forestry sector and with the shipbuilding industry. Väyrynen talked to the audience at a seminar in Arkhangelsk today in what is seen as an export promotion trip by the Finnish Minister.
-About 600 Finnish companies are established in Russia, and they haven’t withdrawn from the country along with the economic crisis, Väyrynen pointed out.
The Arkhangelsk Region covers an area about the size of France, extending from the White Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Arkhangelsk, the capital city of the region, is located more or less on the same latitude as Oulu, the largest city in Northern Finland.
According to Väyrynen, there would be much cooperation development potential. For example, regional actors in Northern Finland have great interest in Arkhangelsk and already conduct cooperation there.
Russian statistics shows that the value of the Arkhangelsk region’s trade with Finland totalled about 100 million Euros in 2008. Finland exports machinery and equipment and imports timber, petroleum products and fish. This year the figure will fall because of the economic crisis and the slump in wood imports, according to a press-release published by Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ilya Mikhalchuk, Governor of Arkhangelsk Region, stressed at the same seminar the positive attitude his administration has towards investment. A regional law that came into force in summer frees foreign investors from regional and local level taxation for a few years following their investment.
The Arkhangelsk participants at the seminar suggested that Finland should set up a consulate in the city. Väyrynen answered that a consulate will not be considered in the present circumstances, but he left the door open in case ties between the region and Finland should become clearly more solid.
Fifteen leading Finnish companies and a delegation of civil servants participated in the export promotion and internationalisation trip to Arkhangelsk this week.
