On the occasion of the anniversary, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko and Finnish Ambassador to Kazakhstan Soili Myakeläinen-Bukhanist held a solemn ceremony of exchanging congratulatory messages on behalf of the leadership of the two countries in the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In his congratulatory letter, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that "in a relatively short historical period, our countries were able to rapidly develop bilateral cooperation." In a response message, President of Finland Sauli Niinistö conveyed sincere congratulations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary and wished further prosperity to the people of Kazakhstan.
The Heads of the Foreign Ministries of Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, 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.
Kazakhstan and Finland share commitment and support for a multi-vector policy. Effective "multilateralism" is essential to prevent or mitigate geopolitical conflicts, maintain environmental sustainability, strengthen civil society, and protect human rights. Thus, the parties are successfully cooperating within the framework of international organizations and, first of all, in the UN and the OSCE. As members of the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-2024, Kazakhstan and Finland work closely on most pressing issues of international politics. The Kazakh side supported Finland's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2025, when an important milestone will be celebrated - the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act.
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 also 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", etc.
An important role in the development of bilateral cooperation is played by 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 on May 13-14, 2021 by the working visit of the IPC Co-Chairman, Minister of Foreign Trade and International Development of Finland, Ville Skinnari.
Of 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 been trained 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 took part.
As R. Vasilenko noted at a meeting with the Ambassador, “Kazakhstan and Finland have a lot in common: both Finns and Kazakhs are known for their love of hockey, for example.” In this regard, the Kazakh diplomat wished Finland a successful holding of the Ice Hockey World Championship starting today, and good luck and impressive victories to the national teams of the two 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.
