--By Suraksha Adhikari
Nepal and Finland established diplomatic relations on 21 September 1974. Bilateral relations between the two countries have been marked by friendship, cordiality and cooperation. The Finnish Embassy was opened in Kathmandu at the Charge d’ Affaires level in 1992, and was subsequently upgraded with the appointment of its Ambassador in September, 2011. Nepal has no residential Embassy in Helsinki. The Embassy of Nepal in Copenhagen is concurrently accredited to Finland.
Bilateral consultations on development cooperation were held between Nepal’s Ministry of Finance and Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2003, 2007, 2010 and January 2013 in Kathmandu.
Exchange of Visits
Some important bilateral visits of the several high-level visits that have taken place between Nepal and Finland, are:
The then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ paid an official visit to Finland on April 1-3, 2009 at the friendly invitation of the Prime Minister of Finland Mr. Matti Vanhanen. The then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala visited Finland in March 2010.
Finnish Foreign Trade and Development Minister Mr. Paavo Vayrynen’s visited Nepal on 3 February 2009. Ms. Heidi Hautala, Minister for International Development visited Nepal from December 2-6, 2011.
Cooperation
The relations between Finland and Nepal are based on development cooperation. Through its cooperation in development, Finland has been assisting Nepal to reduce poverty, enhance the peace process, root democracy into the society, improve human rights and promote environmentally sustainable development.
By supporting Nepal, Finland aims to contribute to the stability of wider Southern Asia, which is in the interest of Finland’s foreign and security policies. Because Nepal has relatively few donors, and this has enabled Finland to contribute in sectors that can provide visibility to its cooperation and good results in sectors that are essential for Nepal’s development.
Finland operates in Nepal’s environment and education sectors. These are areas in which Finland has good international reputation, lengthy experience and has been adding significant value.
Finnish cooperation in Nepal began in 1982 with the grant assistance of 6000 MT of chemical fertilizers. Such assistance has increased and widened in recent years. Earlier the Finnish development programme in Nepal was focused on energy, forestry and water resources. In recent days, Finnish development cooperation has shifted attention towards poverty alleviation, sustainable development, and promotion of democracy, human rights and participatory system of governance.
Nepal is one of Finland’s eight long-term development partner countries, along with Mozambique, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia and Kenya in Africa, Nicaragua in Latin America and Vietnam in Asia. In addition to water and sanitation, education and environment sectors, Finland has supported in Nepal’s Peace Trust Fund, OHCHR as well as Nepalese NGOs. Finland provided US$22 million in the Fiscal 2010-2011.
Finnish NGOs’ projects
The work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is an important part of Finland’s development cooperation. In Nepal, Finland channels currently 25 per cent of development aid through Finnish NGOs. They carry out development projects in Nepal together with their Nepalese partner organizations.
In 2013 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is funding about 50 NGO projects which are implemented by 16 Finnish NGOs in Nepal. The combined annual (2013) budget of these projects is around EUR 4.7 million. Refer to table below for more information. In addition, some Finnish foundations, such as Abilis, KIOS and Siemenpuu, are supporting local NGO projects in Nepal.
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Bilateral development cooperation
Finland has been providing cooperation in education, water and forestry sectors of Nepal. As a nation which has gained international reputation, lengthy experience in this sector, its contribution has added significant value to give. The cooperation is based on Country Strategy (2013-2016).
Cooperation in education sector
Finland is funding Nepal’s School System Reform Programme (SSRP). The programme’s main aim is to make the education system accessible to all Nepalese school-aged children and improve the quality of teaching in grades 1–8. The programme also aims to increase the number of students as well as the quality of education in grades 9–12. In 2010 estimated 93.7 % of Nepalese children went to school.
In education sector funds are also allocated to Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme (TVET). The aim is to improve the pupils’ vocational trainability and capabilities to enter job markets. In the long run the goal is to support the whole vocational training system in Nepal.
Cooperation in forestry sector
Finland had a significant role in the development of Nepal’s forestry sector in 1980’s and 1990’s. Now Finland funds Forest Resource Assessment in Nepal (FRAN)–project which aims at developing a uniform system to collect and share information about forest stock, biomass and biodiversity in Nepal. This makes forest related information more easily available and improves the possibilities to use it in nation-wide decision making process. The project is implemented in 2009–2014. Cooperation in environmental sector will be closed at the end of 2014.
Cooperation in industrial sector
The area in Dharan-Biratnagar’s industrial tunnel is one of Nepal’s fastest urbanizing and industrializing areas. Strengthening of Environmental Administration and Management in Nepal (SEAM-N) -Project aims at strengthening the administrator´s and industries’ capacity to plan, manage and monitor environmental issues and to reduce environmental pollution from different sources in the project area. The project has also been a pilot project for regional administration since its start in 2001. SEAM-N is now in its third and completion phase. It will conclude in 2014.
Trade/Investment
Trade between Nepal and Finland is sill insignificant, as shown in the table below:
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A MoU between FNCCI and its Finnish counterpart was signed in 1993 during the then Nepalese Prime Minister’s Visit to Finland. Similarly, an agreement between Nepal and Finland on Promotion and Protection of Investment was signed l on 3 February 2009.
Finnish firms have some significant investments in Nepal. Department of Industry data reveals that there were 5 joint ventures with the Finnish investment of Rs. 2.5 million until July 2012, which created 149 jobs in Nepal.
Tourism
Though number of Finnish tourist arrival in Nepal at present is not considerable, there is prospect of attracting more Finnish tourists in the future. In 2010 and 2011, Finnish visitors travelling to Nepal stood at 3,284 and 2,276, respectively.
“Stable political condition invited financial support to Nepal”
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Asko Luukkainen
Ambassador of Finland to Nepal
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Before we talk about Nepal-Finland relations, let us first know the secret of Finland having almost USD 50,000 as annual per capita income, and the stable republic democratic status in spite of coalition after every election in Finland. How could you maintain your political and economic stability after a long time?
We got the independence in 1917 and after that we have had the election in every four years for the parliament and the system is working very nicely. I think first of all we have good infrastructure, good governance system, democratic system so that the investors are interested in these kind of countries and that may be the key to success for our economy which is doing quite well. Of course we have difficulties at the moments like the other European countries but basically we are doing quite well. So I think the investors are interested in the countries which are stable and they know what is going to happen in the future.
Finland is also called the land of the midnight sun. And also it has 180, 000 or more lakes and 179, 000 islands. So how do you manage to administer such a huge number of islands?
The islands first of all are the part of some municipality so the municipalities take care of the respective islands and the infrastructures or whatever is needed in the islands. We have a very strong local governance system which can manage these things very easily.
Often several organizations connected with global business have found Finland to be very competitive country economically. It is also the land of some leading brands like Nokia. What is the secret behind the stable and competitive nature of economy and also the birth of good brands in Finland?
Well, it is little bit of mystery to me as well because our salary level is very high so we are not supposed to have a very competitive procession but how the companies take care of the economy and how they take care of their quality production may be the secret behind this success.
You have worked in the Finnish Embassy earlier, and now back as a full-Fledged Ambassador. Please tell us what differences did you really find in Nepal’s economy, politics and society between your first and second term to Nepal?
I arrived for the first time in 1st of August 2000 and then I left in the end of February 2004. At that time situation in Nepal was totally different. Civil war was going on and it was escalating every time during my stay that time. When I came back during this term, political situation is still in the turmoil but at least there is no war so that the biggest change.
“Nepali Population is not happy with their political parties and the people don’t have smiling faces”. You had once said it in 2012. What made you to draw this conclusion? Do you subscribe to this view one year later now?
Well, first of all if I said “not smiling face” that is not the truth because Nepali have always smiling faces. But during that time, the people were going through a really miserable condition. The people were not being able to work and earn for living. Rampant bandas was disturbing everybody in Nepal. I always speak against bandas as they are always disturbing to the people. Politicians are to take care of the issues of the people but it’s the habit of the political parties in Nepal and some other countries to depend upon banda for solving their problems. But that is not the case. It is just disturbing the economy and people are disappointed with such activities.
How will the current election augur in the life of the Nepali population and what should be the priorities immediately after the elections?
Election has come up with new possibilities and hopes for the common people. After the CA election now the local elections also should be held. This is very important for the people especially who are living in the poor areas.
One of the biggest roles that you have been doing in this country is in the development sector. In fact, Nepal is one of your six top development partners, the other five being in Africa. So what is been the size and depth and areas of focus of the development aids in Nepal?
We started the cooperation in 1982 and after the establishment of embassy in 1992, the programme have been increasing in Nepal. Now a days we are talking about spending 22 million Euros (around NRs 2.6 billion) annually from Finland for the development of Nepal.
We are now active in three sectors only according to the rule of European Union. Those three areas are education, sanitation and forestry.
Which are the major INGOs with Finnish origin working on your behalf in Nepal and which are the geographical areas that you are active in?
We are financing 50 NGOs projects in Nepal directly from Finland and in addition to that the embassy is financing 10 projects which are implemented by Nepali NGOs. So it’s almost 60 NGO projects going on in Nepal at the moment. Those projects are scattered all over as we try to avoid the concept of being Kathmandu centered as people in need are living in rural areas. Once a year we discuss with Nepali government for the needy projects in Nepal and do according to the discussion.
Finnish people have one of the highest per capita income of almost USD50, 000 per year in the world so there could be a big tourism market in Nepal for Finland. So what can be done and what is being done to promote tourism from Finland in Nepal?
There is definitely a lot of interest in visiting Kathmandu and Nepal to the people but on the other hand it is quite a lot of expensive visit to Nepal that limits the travelling to Nepal. So we need to increase the possibilities of visit to Nepal. I think the advertisement of Nepal in Finland should increase so that the people can get knowledge about what Nepal can offer.
After the formation of constitution, what do you think would be the role of European Union for the development of economic situation in Nepal?
The role of EU will even increase to support the country financially. After the stable political condition in Nepal, other countries also would be interested in providing aid to Nepal.
