30 years of Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Kazakhstan and Finland

30 years of Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Kazakhstan and Finland

Nur-Sultan, May 13, 2022 - Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Finland.

On the occasion of the anniversary, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko and Finnish Ambassador to Kazakhstan Soili Mäkeläinen-Buhanist held a solemn ceremony of exchanging congratulatory messages on behalf of the leadership of the two countries in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In his congratulatory letter, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, noted that “in a relatively short historical period, our countries were able to rapidly develop bilateral cooperation.” In his response the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö conveyed sincere congratulations on occasion of the 30th Anniversary and wished prosperity to the people of Kazakhstan.

The heads of the Foreign Ministries of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi and Finland Pekka Haavisto also exchanged mutual congratulations, in which they expressed their readiness to build up partnership on international security issues.

The results of three decades have shown that our countries have established close political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties. Also, Kazakhstan and Finland share great commitment to and support for multilateralism. Effective multilateralism is very important in preventing or defusing geopolitical conflicts, preserving environmental sustainability, and strengthening civil society and human rights protection. The parties are successfully cooperating within the framework of international organizations, and primarily in the UN and the OSCE. Thus, as members of the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-2024, Kazakhstan and Finland closely cooperate on most pressing issues of international politics. The Kazakh side supported Finland's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2025, when an important milestone - the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act will be celebrated.

The two countries attach great importance to the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue. The Friendship Groups formed under the parliaments of both countries largely contribute to the expansion of inter-parliamentary contacts.

Investment and trade and economic cooperation is consistently developing. At the end of last year, Suomi retained its leading position as a trading partner of Kazakhstan among the countries of the Scandinavian region ($302.7 million), and took second place (after Sweden) in terms of investment in the economy of our country ($379.6 million). To date, 45 joint ventures, branches and representative offices of Finnish legal entities have been registered in Kazakhstan, including Nokia, Metso, Wartsila, Vaisala, Kone, Honka, Tikkurila, Reka, Lindstrom, Onninen and others.

An important role in the development of bilateral cooperation is the Kazakh-Finnish Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation and its specialized working groups in the field of energy, transport, agriculture and education. A new impetus to bilateral trade and economic cooperation was given by the working visit of the IGC Co-Chairman, Finland’s Minister for International Development Cooperation Ville Skinnari, which took place on May 13-14, 2021.

The particular interest is the Finnish education system, which occupies a leading position in international rankings of educational institutions. Thus, the University of Helsinki was included in the list of recommended universities for studying under the Bolashak program for 2021-2023. To date, about 40 specialists have studied under the Bolashak program in Finland.

Since 2013, the JAMK University of Applied Sciences has been a strategic partner of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan in reforming the system for training Kazakhstani nursing professionals. Within the framework of cooperation, a number of joint events and projects were implemented, in which more than a thousand healthcare professionals have participated.

As Vassilenko noted during the meeting with the Ambassador, “Kazakhstan and Finland have a lot in common: both Finns and Kazakhs love ice hockey, for example”. In this regard, the Kazakh diplomat wished Finland successful hosting the Ice Hockey World Championship starting today, as well as good luck and impressive victories to the national teams of both countries.

In general, Kazakhstan and Finland are successfully interacting in a number of areas and are ready to work on further strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation.