Finland Times

 

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Lenita Toivakka. File Photo Lehtikuva.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Lenita Toivakka is scheduled to make a Team Finland export promotion trip to Beijing and Shanghai from 26 to 29 January 2015 at the invitation of Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.

 

The Finnish delegation led by the Minister includes more than 40 business representatives, according to a press release of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs .

 

The purpose of the trip is to promote Finnish food exports and cooperation projects of the Finnish food industry and the ICT sector, as well as to attract foreign investment in Finland.

 

In addition, the visit aims to develop trade relations and to support cooperation between Finnish and Chinese enterprises and organizations, said the release.

 

"There is immense opportunity for Finnish enterprises in China, with its population of more than a billion. China's rising standard of living and growing demand create opportunities that we cannot afford to leave untapped. Finns have a great deal of know-how in the spheres of pure foods, food safety and high technology," Lenita Toivakka states.

 

This is the first export promotion trip of the Team Finland food industry export programme led by a minister.

 

The Food from Finland export programme aims at doubling Finnish food exports by the year 2020. China is one of the programme's main target countries.

 

During the trip, projects of Finnish enterprises will be promoted through high-level meetings and several business events.

 

The Minister will have meetings, among others, with the Minister of Commerce of China as well as with AQSIQ, the government authority responsible for food supervision and food permits in China, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).