O’Neill farewells Finnish envoy

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has farewelled the Finland Ambassador to PNG, Pasi Patokalio, and thanked him for his country’s support in business and development.
“In the three years that Patokalio has been the ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Papua New Guinea, he has seen significant changes taking place in our country,” O’Neill said.
“While we are all aware of the pressures imposed by commodity prices over the past year, the development that is taking place was not lost on the ambassador. He made the point that PNG is a country that has great opportunities, and our Government further invites businesses and investors to come and identify opportunities.
“There are already companies from Finland operating in Papua New Guinea, particularly in areas such as the provision of equipment for use in the mining sector.
“We can grow this even further as part of our increased economic engagement with Finland, alongside our increasing co-operation with France, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.”
O’Neill said he appreciated the position taken by Finland on matters relating to climate change.
“Finland shares Papua New Guinea’s concerns in relation to the threat posed by climate change and we are able to take similar positions to global forums such as the COP-21 meeting in Paris last year.
“Finland has also been active in supporting people from Carteret Islands in Bougainville who sadly became the world’s first climate change refugees.”