Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research
Bern, 07.02.2022 – Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin, Head of the Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research (EAER), will travel to Helsinki on 10 February 2022 for a working visit. In the Finnish capital he will meet Minister for Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Ville Skinnari and Director of the Finnish Agency for Emergency Supply (NESA) Janne Känkänen for working talks. Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin will then travel to Berlin, where a working meeting with the German Federal Minister for Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, will take place on February 11th.
In addition to bilateral relations, the talks between Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin and the two Finnish ministers will focus in particular on questions of European policy and the economic management of the Corona crisis in Finland and Switzerland. The exchange with the NESA Director is about the respective national economic supply systems and crisis management.
Last year, Swiss exports to Finland amounted to 624 million francs and imports from Finland amounted to 1,416 million francs. Products from the chemical-pharmaceutical industry are Switzerland’s most important export goods to Finland. Precious metals, precious stones and gemstones dominate on the import side. At the end of 2020, Swiss direct investments in Finland amounted to CHF 1.3 billion.
At the working meeting in Berlin with Federal Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Councilor Parmelin will address bilateral relations in the areas of education, research and innovation as well as Switzerland’s association with Horizon Europe and the associated programs and initiatives as quickly as possible. Germany is by far Switzerland’s most important partner in the ERI sector. Between 2016 and 2022, the Swiss National Science Foundation supported around 4700 projects and Innosuisse almost 110 projects with German participation. 12,000 German students form the largest foreign group at Swiss universities (figures from 2020/21; only so-called foreign students). Conversely, around 3,700 Swiss people are currently studying in Germany.
Federal Councilor Parmelin will also hold talks with the President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, and other business representatives.
Address for queries
EAER communication, Tel. +41 58 462 20 07, [email protected]
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Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research
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