PH to open Helsinki embassy this year

The Philippines is planning to open an embassy in Helsinki, Finland, later this year—an important step to facilitate trade and bilateral relations between the two countries, according to a Finnish diplomat who visited the Philippines last week.

In his two-day visit to the country on April 11 and April 12, Jarno Syrjälä, Finland Undersecretary of State for International Trade, said he discussed areas of cooperation with the Philippine government, such as circular economy, digitalization, energy bioeconomy “and everything that relates to green transition.”

The official visited some government agencies, including the Department of Migrant Workers and Department of Trade and Industry, as well as some Finnish companies based here in the Philippines.

READ: Similarities between Filipino and Finnish cultures

“The way I see it, we are entering a more active era. We reopened the [Finnish] embassy [here] in 2020 and we got information that the Philippines will open an embassy in Helsinki later this year,” Syrjälä told the Inquirer in an interview.

The diplomat said Finland is faring well in using renewable energy sources as its electricity production is already 90 percent carbon-free and the Philippines could leverage their expertise in terms of shifting from fossil-based systems to greener alternatives.

“We also talked about how we could try to promote investment, sending goods back and forth, having more economic cooperation and to that category falls also the education sector and migrant workers,” Syrjälä said.