Phl, Finland conclude 4th round of bilateral, political talks

Manila, Philippines - The Philippines and Finland ended over the weekend the fourth round of bilateral political consultations in Manila, with discussions focusing on enhancing economic relations.

The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Erlinda Basilio and Finnish State Secretary Pertti Torstila.

The last political consultation between the two countries was also held in Manila 10 years ago.

Basilio stressed the importance of holding the consultations to keep the bilateral connection between the two countries alive.

She cited Finland’s reputation as a world leader in innovation and success in such fields as information and communication technology, infrastructure development, clean technology, education, good governance, and peace mediation.

Philippine and Finnish delegations focused on mapping out future directions for bilateral relations, particularly on ways to enhance the two countries’ cooperation in political, economic and development fields, conflict management, and people-to-people links.

These topics were a follow up of a high-level seminar held last May 26 in Helsinki where mechanisms of cooperation were created for implementation by 2015.

During the consultations, Philippine-Finnish bilateral trade was also assessed.

Philippine investment officials also presented ways to further increase investment ties between the two countries.

Sending a trade delegation to the Philippines sometime this year was also mentioned.