Finland organizes a summit to promote investments
ISLAMABAD:
Finland’s ambassador to Pakistan, Hannu Rippati, has said that Pakistan’s textile industry is well known in Finland and that the country also exports sports equipment from Pakistan.
Speaking on the Express News program “Expresso”, he said that Finland will soon organize a Doing Business in Pakistan seminar in Pakistan, taking into account the possibilities of both countries. While sharing the details of the event, he further said that it would be an online platform where Pakistani and Finnish companies can register. Then all they have to do is share information about their products and if a Finnish company is interested, they will contact them.
During Covid-19, the trade between the countries was greatly affected, but now this curve is improving, he said and added that the trade relationship changes every year, because sometimes Pakistan’s exports to Finland increase, while sometimes Finland exports more from Pakistan. He pointed out that last year there was more than 100 million euros worth of trade between the two countries.
Finland reopened its embassy in Islamabad a few days ago. “We had closed our embassy in Pakistan a decade ago due to financial challenges and appointed a foreign ambassador to Pakistan,” Rippati said. Speaking about the people of Pakistan, the ambassador said that Pakistanis are very hospitable. “They help everyone, not just me, but all my staff that came with me have found the people here very helpful.”
According to the envoy, the Finnish government does not offer Pakistani students any kind of scholarship program. However, private educational institutions offer scholarships and currently more than 1,000 Pakistani students are studying in Finland. Some students apply for a diploma and some study in high schools.
Commenting on why Finland is the happiest nation in the world, the ambassador said that he believes that happiness is a state of mind. “Uncertainty does not affect our minds. Social security is very high in Western countries, which is why Western countries are at the top of the index,” he said. Secondly, Finns are happy to be close to nature, he added.
The ambassador said that one of the biggest problems in Gilgit-Baltistan is that forests have been cut down where there are settlements. When trees are cut down, floods and landslides become more common in the area. Landslides cause rivers to overflow. “In Finland, a rule has been made that if you have to cut down a tree, plant two or three,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune on January 29th2023.