It is no secret that Egypt is undergoing rapid changes across most of its sectors, from education to urban development, to technology and infrastructure, thanks to the bold steps and reforms the government has adopted recently. The policy-making sector has been developed as well.
We see many positive reforms in all state sectors, which necessitated a lot of efforts, but, indeed, a lot of work is needed given Egypt’s increasing population.
These were the statements by H.E Mr Pekka Kosonen, Ambassador of Finland to Egypt, in recent interview with the Egyptian Mail.
As the diplomatic relations between Egypt and Finland enter its seventh decade, many joint fields and common interests have been developed. So, we will explore in the following interview all aspects that have been bolstered between the two countries during this period.
How do you evaluate political relations between Egypt and Finland?
We appreciate the important role that Egypt plays, as a balanced force, in the stability and progress of the Middle East and Africa region and we see Egypt as a partner in implementing our foreign policy in the region.
We highly value our long-standing diplomatic and bilateral history. Finland sent its first ambassador, Atle Asanti, in 1959 to Egypt. Since then, we have been fostering relationships with local officials, diplomatic corps, businesses and media.
As a new ambassador, I am hoping to gain insights into the political and social scene in Egypt, understanding the principles and directions of new republic, and finding even more common grounds between both our countries.
What are the current joint projects between Egypt and Finland and what are the future planned projects?
Co-operation between our countries covers a wide span of projects. Education and digital innovation are key strengths for Finland and look to Egypt’s openness on the private and public levels to benefit from and adapt this knowledge within its own socio-economic and cultural contexts.
Our collaboration has expanded recently to cover environmental issues, such as water treatment and renewable energy projects to name a few. On this occasion, we wish to commend Egypt, who will be hosting COP27 next year, on taking the lead once again on climate matters in the region. As a climate advocate, Finland is interested to co-operate on best environmental practices, which are now an essential aspect of every form of collaboration.
What about the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries? Which industries are Finnish companies operating in here?
Egypt is naturally a big and attractive market for all investors, regional and international. Moreover, our bilateral trade relations have been steadily growing over the years. We estimate the volume of trade between both our countries to be well over €400 million annually with a projected increase this year.
Paper products and wood in general are amongst the top commercial sectors for Finnish companies in Egypt. In addition to that, Finnish companies that export food and live animals, mineral fuels, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment have the largest share of imports into Egypt.
We see clear avenues for investment in green and renewable energy, green agriculture, green buildings, energy transfer, technology and infrastructure, AI-solutions, and education.
How do you see the efforts of the political and economic reforms that Egypt is currently undertaking?
It is no secret that Egypt is undergoing rapid changes across most of its sectors, from education to urban development, to technology and infrastructure. We see many positive reforms taking place on the level of policy-making as well.
The government has taken bold steps towards the empowerment and enablement of other key population segments, such as women and youth. It is a lot of effort and in deed, a lot of work is needed given Egypt’s increasing population.
What about cultural co-operation between the two countries?
The cultural co-operation between Egypt and Finland is decades old. An example of a successful cultural exchange is the Finnish-Egyptian Musical Bridge, which dates back to 2007 and is organised in co-operation with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
Classical musicians and opera professors from Finland come to Egypt on a yearly basis to teach young Egyptian talents, who in turn visit Finland during the summer to continue their formation, leaving behind a trail of enchanting classical music performances, at both the Cairo Opera House as well as the Savonlinna Music Academy.
However, we are also looking forward to expand our co-operation and include new and modern cultural elements, namely in design and architecture. This way we can bring arctic inspiration from Finland to Egypt and oriental genius from Egypt back to Finland.
What are the main activities of the Finnish Embassy in Cairo?
As a member state of the European Union, we actively support and share in the EU agenda for Egypt, which covers many of the aspects mentioned earlier. However, we emphasise on issues of bilateral interest, which include education, commercial partnerships, climate change mitigation and culture.
About 15 years ago, Finland moved from traditional grant-based development aid towards a more diverse partnership with Egypt.
This is why we have a development cooperation fund for local NGOs working on capacity building and empowerment of women.
Moreover, we engage with regional and international organisations, such as UN Women, the ILO and the IOM, to fund wider projects that may touch several other countries in addition to Egypt.
Most recently, Finland has closed the second funding round of the Decent Work for Women project that the ILO is carrying out in Egypt and Tunisia aiming at improving labour policies, inclusion of women in the workplace, capacity building of both female and male leaders and training on gender-balanced HR policies.
As ambassador, part of my responsibilities includes establishing proper introductions between Finnish enterprises and Egyptian companies and governmental organisations, especially in the commercial sector.
What about co-operation at the educational field between the two countries?
Egypt and Finland see eye to eye on the importance of free and equal quality education for all to establish the welfare of society.
Over the past years, Egypt has been revamping its educational system. At the same time, Finland is glad to share tools and technology for implementation but most importantly our know-how and expertise in capacity building, training in good governance practices for bridging private and public collaboration in education.
We do expect deeper collaboration in the coming years, especially now that Dr Tarek Shawki, Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education, has visited Finland to renew and strengthen our standing bilateral co-operation and extend it to the field of vocational and technical education and training.
Talk about vaccination is getting centre stage in countries across the world. Is there any kind of co-operation between Egypt and Finland in this regard?
The government of Finland has allocated €10 million for vaccine donations to low- and middle-income countries through COVAX, which is led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO, alongside the key delivery partner UNICEF.
The most recent vaccine donation to Egypt was part of a coordinated Team Europe effort, which delivered 2.1 million AstraZeneca doses a couple of weeks back in November.
