Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio was in Kathmandu few days ago as Nepal and Finland celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations. During the visit, Minister Tavio met with high level politicians including Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli and other government officials and public and private sector stakeholders. I had a conversation with the Finnish Minister on wide range of issues on Nepal-Finland diplomatic relations. Here are the excerpts:
Welcome to Nepal, Minister Tavio. How did you find my country?
I met a lot of good people in Nepal during this visit. I met a number of promising women entrepreneurs, officials and private sector business people. In these few days I was here and few interactions I had with people of various walks of life, I have found that Nepali people are very hardworking people. They are friendly, honest and hardworking. Besides, I also sensed certain similarities between the people of two countries. We both, Finland and Nepal, are small nations. People of the both nations are humble. I found that our way of thinking is also similar. I come to Nepal on the occasion of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Finland. During my visit I am also launching new initiatives, like a new project on teacher education together with the EU. We are looking to increase business relations. In a nutshell, you can say that major purpose of my visit to Nepal on this occasion is to further solidify already good relations between Finland and Nepal and explore further more areas of cooperation, especially linkages between development cooperation and trade.
We launched Technical Support Cooperation to School Education Sector project (TECSES) project. This is a 10 million Euro joint funding from Finland and EU. Through this project we aim to strengthen Nepal’s education system. Teacher education is a signature program of Finland and we expect that this teacher education project will go a long way in improving education quality and inclusive education. This is about not leaving anyone behind, which is a guiding philosophy of Finnish education system. Besides, we signed a public investment framework agreement with the Ministry of Finance, this is basically to enable new Finnish investments in Nepal. We look forward to Finnish companies to come to Nepal. I expect that this agreement will help to bring more foreign direct investments to Nepal from Finland. Also, we, through FinnFund, announced an investment of 10 million euros in WorldLink, Nepal’s largest internet service provider company.
Nepal-Finland relations have come a long way since diplomatic relations started in 1974. How do you look back to this journey?
Well, we often limit the relations between the two countries to the time frame starting from 1974. Yes, we started the formal diplomatic relations from 1974 but the relations between the two countries date back to the early 19th century, if you consider the early exchanges. Our relations, good wills and good wishes for each other started much earlier.
Editor’s note: High-level exchanges started as early as 1930s, according to recent publications by the Finnish embassy in Kathmandu. Finnish Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim visited Nepal in 1937, and was welcomed by Maharaja Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana. King Mahendra and Queen Ratna Rajya Lakshmi visited Helsinki in June 1958, during which Finnish President Kekkonen hosted a lunch for the royals at his summer residence in Kultaranta.
Finland takes pride in its School Meal Program and it is a country that leads global school meal coalition of which Nepal is also a part. Can you speak about it further?
Finland was the first country to start a comprehensive school meal program in 1943. This global school meal coalition is an international initiative facilitated by World Food Program with Finland co-chairing it with France and Brazil.
‘Major purpose of my visit to Nepal is to further solidify already good relations between Finland and Nepal and explore further more areas of cooperation, especially linkages between development cooperation and trade.’
There are over 100 countries including Nepal which have joined the initiative. The importance of school meals is evident. First, the children study well when they are properly fed. Second, they can study better when they are fed nutritious and healthy food which school meal program offers. Third, this provides an extra incentive to the families to send their children to schools because parents don’t need to worry about what to feed their kids. Families love it when they see their kids going to school and eating there. When we started the program in 1943, we were a poor country. Today we are a prosperous country yet its relevance has not diminished. We actually are working to make school meal programs even more varied, enriching and more systematic with locally produced products. Its importance for Finland has not changed a bit nor will it ever. I think this applies in the case of Nepal too.
Any conversation on Finland becomes incomplete if we don’t talk about education. What’s the secret of Finland’s education success and what is its learning for the world, including Nepal?
First, I would say is the teacher education which is why we put so much emphasis on it in Finland as well as in Nepal. It is also why we invest in TECSES project in Nepal because better trained and skilled teachers can impart learning most effectively and safeguard the future of students. Second, we attach importance to education like nothing else. Family, parents, policy makers, politicians all take education as the most important sector to invest in. Quite often while teachers help with education of children in school, it is the parents who provide support to the children at home for learning. Teachers and parents remain in regular communication and discussion to enhance education of their children. And you must not forget the school meal program.
Nepal-Finland relations have come a long way since 1974. What will be the priority areas for Finland to consider for Nepal in the days to come?
We are looking forward to continuing with themes of education and water and sanitation projects as well as gender equality. We accord immense priority to the rights of the persons with disabilities, girls and women. We will continue with these projects in the days to come as well. In addition to what we have been doing in partnership with the government of Nepal, we are exploring potentials in different sectors as well in relation to diversifying our relations more towards economic collaboration and looking into opportunities for Finnish companies. Like I said, we inaugurated during my visit a public investment framework agreement with the Ministry of Finance to enable new Finnish investments in Nepal, we launched TECSES project on teacher education and announced Finnfund’s investment of 10 million euros in WorldLink. We are a global leader in telecommunications and waste management and energy power building projects. So, in the future these areas could have potential to build on as well.
‘Nepalis who have acquired skills abroad, including in Finland, are the great assets of Nepal. When they come back home, they bring their skills, and companies back home. Nepal has a great advantage if it can capitalize on Nepali diaspora.’
In Finland, we work mostly with private companies not so much with the state-owned companies. It is important for Nepal to open up and welcome foreign direct investment. After all, the development and growth of a country comes from having good education and having a good business environment which creates jobs, and to create jobs you need educated people and investment. So, these issues are pretty much interconnected. We can look forward to Finnish FDI coming to Nepal because we just completed a framework agreement with the Ministry of Finance. I hope to see more FDIs coming to Nepal not only from Finland but also from other countries in Europe.
As the two countries are celebrating the golden jubilee of their relations, what are your messages for Nepali people and Finnish people.
I would like to acknowledge the similarities between our two countries and peoples. Global geopolitics is becoming more and more complicated. We can work together for world peace and for the respect of international law. Finland and Nepal share common position on so many issues at the United Nations. The relations of these two countries are marked by positivity. Finnish people have very positive impression of Nepal and I find that Nepali people also think of Finland very positively. We have a great deal of good will, regards and respect for each other. This surely will open more avenues for cooperation in the days to come.
There is a considerable size of Nepali diaspora in Finland. You find many Nepali restaurants in Finland. When I was a lawyer one of my first jobs was to help Nepali start-up companies in Finland. So, I have a special attachment with Nepali people and I know that they are very hardworking people. I have noticed that many Nepali people working abroad consider coming back home too. So, these Nepalis who have acquired skills abroad, including in Finland, are the great assets of Nepal. When they come back home, they bring their skills, and companies back home. In this sense, Nepal has a great advantage if it can capitalize on Nepali diaspora. This has come to me quite often in conversation that it is a systemic problem at the moment because skilled and educated Nepali people move out of the country. You have to aim for rapid growth so that you can get the skilled people to come back. If you wait too long, they might choose to settle down abroad instead of coming back home. I have personally seen that many Nepalis working abroad are actually willing to come back home and do something here on their own. If Nepal creates favorable environment for them to return, they will be drivers of growth in the long run.
Comment