Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen to visit Tanzania
Press release 262/2007
26 November 2007
Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, will visit Tanzania on on 28–30 November. During his visit Minister Väyrynen will meet with Tanzanian ministers Bernard Membe, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Zakia Meghji, Minister for Finance and Mizengo Pinda, Minister for Regional Administration and Local Government. Minister Väyrynen will also attend the Closing Session of the conference to review achievements of the Second Phase of the Helsinki Process.
The purpose of the visit is to strengthen relations between Finland and Tanzania, to present Finland’s new Development Policy Programme and to learn about the progress of Tanzania’s National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty and Finland’s role in supporting the strategy. In addition, Minister Väyrynen will have talks on Tanzania’s international challenges in the present global environment and Finland’s possibility to strengthen Tanzania’s capacity to benefit from international and regional agreements.
While in Dar es Salaam, Minister Väyrynen will also visit the gas-fired Ubungo power plant, which will be opened in the near future. Wärtsilä has supplied the plant with diesel generators converted to run on natural gas.
In addition, Minister Väyrynen will make a field trip to Lindi and Mtwara, Southern Tanzania. During the field trip the minister will become acquainted, for instance, with local enterprise activity, which Finland supports within the sphere of bilateral development cooperation. He will also have talks with regional government officials and will visit a local comprehensive school. A considerable share of Finnish aid to Tanzania is targeted specifically at development of regional government within the framework of the sector programme.
Additional information: Ossi Martikainen, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, mobile tel. + 358 40 592 6769; and Counsellor Keijo Ruokoranta, mobile tel. +358 400 954 471