Prime Minister Marin to visit New Zealand and Australia

Prime Minister Sanna Marin will visit New Zealand and Australia from 29 November to 3 December. Prime Minister Marin will meet the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern in Auckland and the Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese in Sydney. Prime Minister Marin will be accompanied by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari and a Finnish business delegation.

This will be the first time that a prime minister of Finland visits New Zealand or Australia. In recent years, Finland has enjoyed increasingly diverse relations with both countries. While Finnish companies already have a good presence in Australia, the potential of commercial and economic relations with New Zealand remains partly untapped.

In order to respond to a changing international security environment and to defend common values, likeminded countries need to reinforce their cooperation. Australia, New Zealand and Finland are all strong supporters of the multilateral system. Finland can bring to the table reliable solutions for industries such as the new technologies sector, the digital transformation, the mining technology sector and the green transition.

The European Union is also intensifying its relations with the Indo-Pacific. The EU and New Zealand recently concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement. Finland considers it important that an agreement be reached on the remaining open questions with Australia as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Marin’s meetings with both Prime Minister Ardern and Prime Minister Albanese will focus on the opportunities offered by new technologies and the digital transformation, along with energy supply and the green transition, response to climate change and biodiversity loss, and the international promotion of equality and human rights. Other topics on the agenda include Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, support for Ukraine, Finland’s future NATO membership, the security situation in the Indo-Pacific, and major power relations.

Prime Minister Marin will speak at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. Her speech will focus on the lessons learned from recent crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war of aggression.

During his visit to New Zealand and Australia, Minister Skinnari will meet ministers and business representatives from both countries. The delegation of Finnish companies, coordinated by Business Finland, will have representatives from CSC – IT Center for Science, Kone Corporation, Neste Corporation, Nokia Corporation and WithSecure.

Inquiries: Lauri Voionmaa, Special Adviser (International Affairs), tel. +358 295 160 306, Iida Vallin, Special Adviser (Communications and Media Relations), tel. +358 295 160 947 and Päivi Paasikoski, Director of Government Communications, tel. +358 40 547 6279, Prime Minister’s Office; Tiina Vainio, Special Adviser (Media Relations), tel. +358 295 350 148, Arto Haapea, Director (Unit for Eastern Asia and Oceania), Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 416 and Ryan Hemingway, Communications Coordinator, Embassy of Finland, Canberra, tel. +61 2 6273 3800, [email protected]