Plymouth named new SW home of consulate of Finland

Plymouth is the new home of the honorary consulate of Finland in the south-west of England.

An honorary consulate represents one country in another, promoting mutual interests, trade and investment.

Ambassador Jukka Siukosaari met with business and education leaders in the city, as well as local councillors, to open the honorary consulate site, which is to be headed by Finland-born lawyer Christina Tolvas-Vincent.

The ambassador said he was impressed by their "dynamism" and hoped to forge new relationships between Plymouth and wider south west and Finland in business, education and culture, the marine industries and green technologies.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the consulate would be a regional office of Finland's embassy in London.

Ms Tolvas-Vincent has been honorary consul for West Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset for the past 14 years.

Ambassador Siukosaari said: "The embassy will guide and help Christina to find the right contacts in Finland for businesses here, and for Finland companies wishing to establish operations in the South West.

"Finland and the UK are not that far from each other culturally, but I still think to have someone who also knows the legal environment is so valuable.

"It also helps to have someone who knows the culture and can act as an interpreter.

"What I am especially impressed with in Plymouth is the amount of manufacturing it seems to have and the export orientation of companies that are here. There is a dynamism for looking at new markets."

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