, Photo: President Cyril Ramaphosa hosts His Excellency President Sauli Väinämö Niinistö of the Republic of Finland
Photo credit: GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted His Excellency President Sauli Väinämö Niinistö of the Republic of Finland on a State Visit to the Republic of South Africa.
President of Finland visited the Republic from 24 to 26 April 2023 at the invitation of President Ramaphosa. Initially, the visit was planned in April 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The State Visit was the first by a Finnish President to South Africa in more than twenty years. President Niinistö, visited South Africa in December 2013 to attend the funeral of former President Nelson Mandela.
Photo: The welcome ceremony at the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre.
#FinlandInSA #FinlandStateVisit
Photo: His Excellency President Sauli Väinämö Niinistö of the Republic of Finland and His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa during media briefing
Photo credit: GCIS
Photo: Union Buildings in Pretoria during His Excellency President Sauli Väinämö Niinistö of the Republic of Finland’s visit
Photo credit: GCIS
Bilateral relations between Finland and South Africa are deeply rooted due to Finnish support for the liberation movements in Southern Africa. Relations have grown since 1994 in all areas of bilateral engagement, and Finnish investment is a major priority for both countries, with over R2 billion in new investments in the last 3 years.
President Niinistö was accompanied by a delegation of Finnish business leaders and a Business RoundTable was hosted in partnership with the Department of Trade, Industry and Cooperation (dtic) under the theme; “Building Smart, Secure, Sustainable Society Together”.
The objective of the session was to strengthen trade and investment relations between South Africa and Finland through the mobilisation and facilitation of new investments, expansion and nurturing of existing Finnish investments in South Africa, as well as exploring opportunities for joint ventures in technology commercialisation in mutual sectors.
Most of the discussions centrcentred on opportunities in renewable energy; Information and Communication Technology; mining technology; packaging and food hygiene; construction and finance, that the South African and Finnish companies could work together in exploring.
Finland is an important partner to South Africa and, despite its small population and territory; it is amongst the most developed countries in the world and provides valuable trade, investment, and development cooperation to South Africa. Like the other Nordics, they play an active role in global affairs, are strong advocates for multilateralism, have an excellent capacity and track record for peace and mediation efforts, and are global leaders in innovation.
Since 2010 Finland has been supportive of South Africa’s national priorities and continues to be a reliable partner in various sectors including maritime, science and technology, ICT and digitalisation, environment, energy, education, skills development, agriculture and water.
President Niinistö also conducted a State Visit to Namibia during his Southern Africa visit. Within the SADC context, the Finnish have supported several programmes on sustainable water management. The Finnish engagement with Africa formed part of its strategic objective of increasing partnerships with Africa, including expanding its diplomatic presence, its support for the African Agenda, and expanding economic relations. In this regard, Finland has adopted an Africa Strategy.
Finland is also a strong international partner in areas of various global issues such as strengthening multilateralism, international law, peacebuilding and mediation, the advancement of gender and human rights as well as around issues of renewable energy.