Helsinki — Riga 365 kilometers to the south
On the 3rd December in the Diplomatic Economic Club took place a meeting with the Ambassador of Finland in Latvia H.E. Mr Olli Kantanen.
Ambassador of Finland Mr Olli Kantanen has told about current economic development of Finland, trade and economical relations with the Baltic States, development of tourism and other areas of economy.
Members of the Club thanked the Ambassador for the meeting, and vice-president of the Club Andrey Kozlov handed a book about Latvia as a souvenir to remember the meeting.
Presentation of the Ambassador of Finland at the meeting in the Diplomatic Economic Club on the 3rd December 2015.
At the meeting were present members of the Club and guests:
O.Butenko, S.Shushunova, A.Kozlov, L.Pankova, O.Pavuk, V.Butenko, V.Roldugin, M.Shalaeva, E.Ozolins, V.Palkovich, A.Csizmadia, V.Danilokh, N.Daudins and others.
Olga Pavuk , chief editor of the magazine Baltic-course.com in her article says:
«The Ambassador of Finland to Latvia H.E. Mr Olli Kantanen at the meeting in the Diplomatic Economic Club, which took place in the business-centre UNIMARS was telling about his country, it’s traditions and customs, cold winters and short, but very beautiful summers. We also heard about development of economic relations between Finland and Latvia.
Riga is the second closest capital from Helsinki by distance of neighboring countries’ capitals. First is Tallinn – 83km, then Riga – 365 km, and Saint-Petersburg – 373 km, then Stockholm – 393 km.
The population of Finland is 5.4 million, while in Helsinki lives 1.4 million inhabitants. People Average life expectancy is good. For men, it is 78 years; of women — 83 years. Country is quite religious, about 74% of population are Lutheran.
Finnish economy
GDP of Finland was EUR 37 559 billion in 2014. Finland is one of the few European countries, which GDP shows negative dynamic. In the 3rd quarter 2015 there was negative dynamic comparing to the same period the year before, -0.7%, and comparing to the 2nd quarter 2015, -0.6%. As per H.E. Ambassador reference economy of Finland is focused on export, where Russia is an important market for Finland. Economic sanctions played negative role, and Finnish export to Russia dropped from 10% to 7%.
Finnish economy is strongly connected with the Baltic States, especially with Estonia. Lots of Finnish companies are investing to Latvia and Lithuania through Estonia. Therefore, Estonian economy is experiencing pressure. In the 3rd quarter 2015, comparing to the 2nd quarter 2015, Estonian GDP for the first time showed negative rate – minus 0.5%.
Finland – Latvia
In 2014 foreign trade between Finland and Latvia showed the highest results from 2004, reaching EUR 904.6 million, which was for 1/3 more than before the crises in 2007.
As per Lursoft data, there is registered 387 companies with Finnish capital in Latvia. Amongst them there are such well-known as Fortum, Neste Oil, Castor Construction, YIT, SOL, Prisma, Stockmann, Fazer, Hanzas Maiznica, Altia, Pohjola-Seesam, Aldaris, Paulig, Fiskars and others Finnish investments in Latvian companies are EUR 196.5 million
As per statistical data, Finnish export to Latvia is growing, but Latvian to Finland is reducing. In 2014 there were exported goods for the amount of EUR 701.3 million from Finland to Latvia, but from Latvia to Finland for EUR 205.2 million.
The 5 biggest Finnish investors to Latvia as per Lursoft data on 04.12.2015 are: YIT Construction Ltd. — EUR 47,4 million, CRAMO Oyj — EUR 19,1 million, Fazer Bakeries Ltd. — EUR 17, 2 million, Olvi Oyj — EUR 8,3 million, Wihuri Oy — EUR 8,2 million.
H.E. Ambassador noted that now Finnish investors are transferring their business from Estonia to Latvia, as an example mentioning Fazer factory, which produces bread and frozen products. It was moved from Tallinn to Ogre in Latvia. Fazer invested more than EUR 5 million in factory’s development, and offered approximately 40 new workplaces.»
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