During his stay in Helsinki, Mr. Fragogiannis also had an interesting meeting with Jyrki Katainen, the current head of the Finnish Innovation Fund SITRA and former Finnish Prime Minister and EU Commissioner, with whom he discussed prospects for cooperation both in research projects and in the development of high-tech applications. The former Prime Minister of Finland demonstrated a keen interest in further study by SITRA of the Astypalaia project as a successful model for changing the state and society’s mindset in combination with the circular economy and sustainability in terms of green growth.
During the visit, the Finnish Foreign Ministry hosted a round table discussion for the Greek entrepreneurs who participated in the mission and Finnish enterprises in their respective sectors to get to know each other and exchange views. This was followed by B2B meetings amongst enterprises to explore cooperation prospects. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Export Credit Greece and its Finnish counterpart Finnvera. The MoU was signed by the CEO of ECG S.A. Gregory Stamatopoulos and his counterpart Jussi Haarasilta.
The business delegation also attended a presentation by SITRA executives on the possibilities of cooperation with the organization and the use of its resources for business projects. The delegation then visited the premises of Wartsila, a global leader in innovative cutting-edge and circular economy technologies for the shipping and energy sectors.
During his visit to Finland on February 16 and 17, 2023, accompanied by a small business delegation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness Kostas Fragogiannis discovered fertile ground for strengthening economic relations with Finland and bringing the business worlds of the two countries closer together.
At the bilateral meetings with the Minister for Development Cooperation and International Trade, Ville Tapio Skinnari, and the Minister of Economic Affairs, Mika Lintila, Mr. Fragogiannis received the Finnish officials’ enthusiasm for the progress and performance of the Greek economy, as well as their strong desire to enhance economic and business relations between the two countries. “I am very satisfied with the climate I encountered in Helsinki, both at government and business level. I believe it was a wise choice to organize this small, yet targeted, business mission to Finland in cutting-edge sectors. It is important that the channels of communication between the business worlds of the two countries have been opened, with the enthusiastic support of the political leadership”, pointedly said Mr. Fragogiannis.
