The 101 years of Finnish Independence was celebrated in Kathmandu by the newly posted Finnish Ambassador and his wife on December 6, 2018.

Welcoming the guests at the reception organized by the Finland embassy in Hotel Yak and Yeti, the new Finnish envoy said “ this year also marks 100 years of existence of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and so the year 2018 has been a particular year for all Finnish diplomats and other MFA staff members all over the world.

The envoy later informed the gathering as to how from a modest beginning the Finnish Foreign service had now grown to a Ministry having over 90 diplomatic missions worldwide and more than 2300 employees in its payroll including one in Nepal as well.

Our fundamental task has remained the same throughout the past 100 years, that is, to promote and protect the interest of the Finnish nation and its citizens worldwide, the Finnish envoy said.

Nepali diplomats could learn much from what the Finnish Ambassador said about his country and people.

Highlighting the various facets of Finnish foreign policy, the envoy said, among other things, “Finland’s foreign policy is value based. We believe in democracy, human rights, gender equality and rule of law, to name but a few.

“We are a strong supporter of the rules based multilateral global governance, contributes to maintaining the international peace and security as well as promoting the global trade thus serving the best interest of countries such as Finland and Nepal.

The envoy further said that next year in July, 2019, his country will take over the Presidency of the European Union for six months. Sometimes we may forget that the European Union has actually succeeded remarkably well. We have seen internal market, the freedom of movement and growing number of common policies develop. They have created welfare and stability previous generations on our continent could never have imagined. Let me assure you that, in the strong European spirit, Finland will continue working for the success of the Union.

Talking on Finland-Nepal relations, the Finnish envoy said that “Finland has had an Embassy in Nepal since 1992. Our current focus areas in development cooperation are water and sanitation, education and gender.

In addition, the contribution of Finnish NGOs and their local partners in Nepal has been particularly valuable over many decades”.

The reception saw the presence of several important persons practically from each and every section of the Nepali society.