MFA: Minister Skinnari to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group in Washington DC

Minister Skinnari will speak at a global value chains event together with Chief Economist of the World Bank Group Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg and Mexico’s Minister of Finance Arturo Herrera Gutiérrez. The growth of Finland's export-driven economy is based on global value chains, and Finland emphasises the importance of an open rules-based international trading system. 

“Global responsibility requires that we understand that the effects of our actions extend far beyond the borders of our country. Finland can be globally influential by conducting trade policy that promotes market access for developing countries’ exports and facilitates their integration into the global value chains,” says Minister Ville Skinnari.

During the visit, Minister Skinnari will have meetings with the executive management of the World Bank Group, including Executive Vice President and CEO of IFC Philippe H. Le Houerou, Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank Annette Dixon, and Vice President for Africa Hafez Ghanem. In the discussions, Minister Skinnari will emphasise that Finland is a major provider of climate finance and a leading country in development cooperation in the education sector and in education export.

The World Bank Group is one of the world's biggest financiers of sustainable development. The International Development Association IDA, the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries, is one of the most important channels for Finland's development cooperation.

Follow the meeting on Twitter using #IMFMeetings and #WBGMeetings.

Before travelling to Washington DC, Minister Skinnari visited Ethiopia together with President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö.

Inquiries (Note: Finnish time is 7 hours ahead of Washington DC):

Anni Mäkeläinen, Attaché for the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, tel. +358 50 465 4555 and Satu Santala, Director General, Department for Development Policy, tel. +358 295 351 815

The Foreign Ministry’s email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.