EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti met with Finland’s Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo

Sir Suma Chakrabarti (third from right) meets Finland’s Minister of Finance, Petteri Orpo.

President Chakrabarti visits Helsinki for talks with government and businesses

LONDON, 04-Oct-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti has used a visit to Helsinki to express the Bank’s gratitude for the support it enjoys from Finland and to appeal to the government and business representatives to intensify the cooperation.

During his one-day stay in the Finnish capital President Chakrabarti met Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo, delivered a keynote speech at a seminar about “Building successful economic transition” and participated in a business development event with local companies. He gave interviews to the daily Helsingin Sanomat and the public broadcaster Yle.

Finland is a founding member of the EBRD and the Bank’s joint investment with Finnish companies stood at €4.7 billion at the end of 2016. The country is also a longstanding donor and to date has provided €75 million to the Bank for donor-supported projects and activities. One area of special importance for Finland is support for small businesses and Helsinki has contributed almost €2 million to more than 100 advisory projects.

President Chakrabarti said: “I am very pleased to visit Helsinki for the second time since assuming my role as head of the EBRD. The country has always pursued goals that are also priorities for the Bank, such as private sector development, support for the green economy, gender equality and inclusion. The visit provided me with an excellent opportunity to encourage our Finnish partners to further intensify our excellent cooperation along our shared values and goals.”

During his visit to Helsinki the EBRD President was accompanied by a delegation of senior management, which included the Bank’s Chief Economist, Sergei Guriev, the Director of Donor Co-Financing, Camilla Otto, and the Director of Business Development, Philip ter Woort. The delegation had additional business meetings to deepen the cooperation between the Bank and Finland.

In his speech at the transition seminar at the University of Helsinki, EBRD President Chakrabarti paid tribute to the achievements of Finland, which celebrates 100 years of independence this year, by saying: “I want to acknowledge Finland’s very special status as a source of inspiration for many of the countries where the EBRD invests.” As the EBRD’s “work to promote the transition to market-oriented economies continues, we look to Finland for support, for ideas and for inspiration.”

SOURCE: EBRD

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