Finland strengthens trade relations in increasingly important US market

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will lead a Team Finland trade mission to the State of Texas and visit Washington DC from 12 to 16 December.

The visit to the United States includes meetings with representatives of the US administration and Congress, the Governor of Texas and representatives of business and industry. A Statement of Mutual Cooperation between Finland and the State of Texas will be signed during the visit.

The United States is one of Finland’s most important trading partners. Compared with any individual country’s economic weight when not only export and import but also investments and innovation cooperation are considered, the United States is the most important economic partner for Finland. Texas, with its nearly 30 million inhabitants, is one of the fastest growing economies in the United States. It is known for its energy production and its growing technology clusters.

“Texas has many opportunities to offer Finnish companies and the science and research community. The purpose of the visit is to promote trade and investment, increase cooperation in high-tech fields and support the networking of research entities. We want to strengthen the relations between Finland and the United States at the federal level, and we want to promote commercial and economic relations with the State of Texas,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Skinnari.

In addition to pursuing good relations at the federal level, Finland has actively built partnerships at the state level in recent years. During the visit, Minister Skinnari and the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, will sign a Statement of Mutual Cooperation with the aim of opening new doors for Finnish companies and bodies in Texas.

The Finnish companies and research organisations taking part in the trade mission have extensive expertise and solutions especially in the fields of digitalisation, green economy, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The delegation, coordinated by Business Finland, includes Cargotec, CSC-IT Center for Science Ltd., EVA Global, Haltian Ltd., Konecranes, Nokia, Smart City Innovation Cluster, Unikie Inc., University of Helsinki: Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and Wärtsilä Corporation.  

In Washington DC, Minister Skinnari will have the opportunity to exchange views with the US administration on transatlantic trade relations, global trade questions, the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and assistance to Ukraine. The aim is to promote bilateral trade between Finland and the United States and to advance cooperation in the technology sector and in securing production chains. Minister Skinnari will meet United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

In Washington DC, Minister Skinnari will also meet representatives of development finance institutions and other financiers. The topics of the meetings will include the financial situation in sustainable development, the building of new kinds of thematic coalitions, security of supply and value chains, and support to Ukraine.