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Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Finland on Monday 23 August invited by Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb. This was the Foreign Secretary and Mrs Hague鈥檚 first official visit to Finland.

Business breakfast
皇冠体育app busy day started with a business breakfast at the Ambassador鈥檚 residence, where the guest of honour was Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paavo Vayrynen. 皇冠体育appy were joined at the table by Ambassadors Matthew Lodge, and Pekka Huhtaniemi.

Finnish business leaders invited to the early morning event included Sakari Tamminen - Chairman of the Board of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, Kari Jordan - CEO, Metsaliitto Group, Ole Johansson - President and CEO, Wartsila Corporation, Johan Kronberg - APA, Member of the Management Team, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Martti Kiuru - CEO, Terveystalo Healthcare, and Harry Rastedt - CEO, GlaxoSmithKline.

Meeting staff
After the breakfast the Foreign Secretary and Mrs Hague had a chance to visit the Embassy and meet the staff. Before they were whisked away to a full day of further meetings the Hagues had the opportunity to talk to Embassy, UK Trade & Investment, and British Council staff over a cup of tea.

Speaking to a full house the Foreign Secretary said the relations between the UK and Finland are in good shape and that we must further build on them. He also emphasised the importance of good cooperation between the FCO, UK trade & Investment and the British Council. 皇冠体育app meeting was a unique opportunity for staff to meet the Foreign Secretary face to face and hear his views on the new foreign policy priorities.

Meeting the Ministers
皇冠体育app Foreign Secretary also had bilateral meetings with both the Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi, and Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen.

In their bilateral meeting over lunch the foreign ministers discussed bilateral relations and topical EU matters, such as the EU external action service, execution of the Lisbon Treaty, and the EU鈥檚 strategic partnerships. 皇冠体育appy also discussed current foreign affairs, such as the Middle East peace process as well as the situation in Iran and Afghanistan.

Speech to Ambassadors
皇冠体育app Foreign Secretary鈥檚 visit coincided with the Finnish Foreign ministry鈥檚 annual Leadership Week in Helsinki, and he therefore had an opportunity to speak to the Finnish ambassadors. In his speech the Foreign Secretary stated that he is 鈥渄etermined to build on the excellent cooperation that already exists between the United Kingdom and Finland鈥�. He explained to the audience of ambassadors the new Foreign Office objectives. 鈥淲e have simplified the Foreign Office departmental objectives so that the organisation has a clear sense of direction that reflects the Government鈥檚 priorities: safeguarding our national security; building our prosperity and supporting British nationals around the world.鈥�

Press Conference
皇冠体育app day concluded with a press conference at the Government Banquet Hall, where the Finnish media quizzed the Foreign Secretary on his views on Afghanistan and Finland鈥檚 role in the ISAF operation, relations with Russia, the UK Government policy on Europe, and budget cuts, among other things.

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