Secretariat, Taipei City Government

Representative Mikko Karppinen, Senior Advisor Jere Tala, and Advisor Chang Hung-Yi of the Finland Trade Center in Taiwan visited the Taipei City Government at 11 a.m. on October 26, 2021, to meet Tom Chou, who serves as the Commissioner of the Department of Civil Servant Development and the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for External Affairs. In addition to extensive exchanges on future municipal cooperation between the two parties, Representative Karppinen personally invited the Taipei City Government to participate in the 2021 Nordic Sustainable Energy and Environment Forum organized jointly by the Finland Trade Center in Taiwan; the Trade Council of Denmark, Taipei; and the Swedish Trade & Invest Council, which will take place on November 30, 2021. 

On behalf of the Taipei City Government, Commissioner Chou welcomed Karppinen and his delegation. Commissioner Chou highlighted that Mayor Ko led a delegation to visit Finland in January 2020, and although it was a short 2-day visit, they were touched by the warm welcome that they received from multiple Finnish government agencies and learned a lot through the visit. Mayor Ko was particularly impressed by how Finnish people incorporate design into their daily lives. 

During the meeting, Commissioner Chou gave a briefing on the administrative highlights of the Taipei City Government and future cooperation opportunities. Chou noted that Taipei boasts convenient transportation, a comprehensive medical care system, a safe living environment, and numerous business opportunities. The Taipei City Government looks forward to more exchanges with the Finland Trade Center in Taiwan. Representative Karppinen said that Finland ranks among the top European Union countries in the fields of information security, sustainable energy, environmental protection technology, and green transportation; he also stated that Finland’s achievements in these fields are recognized internationally. Finland is home to world-leading innovative industries, particularly in the fields of medical and long-term care. The Finland Trade Center in Taiwan is more than happy to invite relevant public and private sector institutions of Finland to share their innovation-related experiences and results with Taipei City.

Commissioner Chou emphasized that the principles of the 2021 Nordic Sustainable Energy and Environment Forum align with the sustainable development goals that are strongly supported and promoted by the Taipei City Government. In addition to the full support provided by the city government, Mayor Ko will also attend the forum in person to give an opening speech. Representatives from the Taipei City Government’s Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation will also attend the forum, where they will be sharing Taipei City’s resource recycling plan and green transportation measures with attendees in the hopes of learning from the successes of Northern Europe.

The Finland Trade Center in Taiwan has long been contributing to the promotion of exchanges between Taiwan and Finland. Specifically, the center has served as a platform for communication between the two parties, provided advice when necessary, and offered various forms of assistance to facilitate bilateral economic and trade development and environmental sustainability. Commissioner Chou hopes that Representative Karppinen will continue to promote substantive exchanges between Taiwan and Finland and deepen the relationship between the two countries.