President Niinistö to attend Arctic Circle assembly in Iceland

Office of the President of the Republic
Press Release 55/2014
28 October 2014

President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö will pay a working visit to Iceland from 30 October to 1 November. In Reykjavik, President Niinistö will participate in the Arctic Circle 2014 assembly and meet the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson.

President Niinistö will speak at the assembly’s opening ceremony on Friday 31 October. Finland is one of the four theme countries of the event and on Friday afternoon President Niinistö will open a country session in which Finland’s Arctic expertise will be showcased. Ambassador of Arctic Affairs Hannu Halinen will act as the moderator of the Finland session, which will also be attended by Tero Vauraste, Vice-Chair of the Arctic Economic Council and CEO and President of Arctia Shipping; Petteri Taalas, Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute and Pertti Korhonen, CEO of Outotec.

This will be the second occasion on which the Arctic Circle Assembly has been organised in Iceland. The three-day event will be attended by participants from over 30 countries including state representatives, organisations, companies and research institutes. The themes of the event will include Arctic climate change and the environment, security, shipping, energy and the utilisation of natural resources, as well as economic opportunities and cooperation.