Prime Minister Orpo to visit Japan
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will visit Japan on 9–12 December. The purpose of the visit is to deepen cooperation between Finland and Japan, to discuss the current foreign and security policy situation and to strengthen contacts between Finnish and Japanese businesses. A business delegation put together by Business Finland will accompany the Prime Minister on the visit.
On Tuesday 10 December, Prime Minister Orpo will meet with the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, in Tokyo. The prime ministers will discuss bilateral relations between Finland and Japan, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and other topical security policy questions and international issues, such as the situation in East Asia. Like Finland, Japan is a strong supporter of Ukraine.
“Finland and Japan have excellent, long-standing relations. In a challenging international environment, close cooperation between like-minded partners is even more important than before,” Orpo said.
Themes related to technology and clean and sustainable solutions will feature prominently on the agenda during the visit. Orpo will speak at a business seminar on the clean and digital transition in Tokyo on 10 December and present Finland’s carbon neutrality targets at the University of Kyoto on 12 December.
He will also meet with the Japan Business Confederation Keidanren and the umbrella organisations for businesses in the Osaka region. In addition, Orpo will visit the Osaka 2025 Expo grounds, where a joint Nordic pavilion is currently being built.
Japan is a key strategic partner for Finland, and it is important that we strengthen our relations through both political dialogue and economic cooperation. Japan is Finland’s third biggest trading partner outside Europe. We have significant opportunities for cooperation in a variety of fields, including science and technology and the clean transition.
The business delegation will consist of representatives from the following companies and associations: Aalto University/School of Electrical Engineering, Business Tampere Ltd, Central Finland Mobility Foundation, Enter Espoo Ltd, Finnair Plc, Helsinki Partners, ICEYE Ltd, IQM Quantum Computers, Modulight Plc, Nokia Corporation, ReOrbit Ltd, Spinnova Plc, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Valmet Plc and Vexlum Ltd.
Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen visited Japan in September of this year and Minister of Science and Culture Sari Multala was there in October.
Inquiries: Marja Koskela, Diplomatic Adviser to the Prime Minister, tel. +358 295 160 978 and Päivi Paasikoski, Director of Government Communications, tel. +358 40 547 6279, Prime Minister’s Office; Juha Niemi, Deputy Director General, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 232; and Suvi Sundquist, Director (North East Asia), Business Finland (business delegation), tel. +81 70 1051 0700 (+7h), firstname.lastname(at)businessfinland.fi
The addresses of the Finnish Government are in the format [email protected].