The Finnish parliament has established a Namibia friendship group to strengthen the collaboration between the two countries’ parliaments and to further economic, cultural and other liaisons between the two sides.
The group will be chaired by Finnish Member of the Parliament Ville Valkonen, who has a personal connection with Namibia, said a statement released from the Embassy of Finland on Tuesday.
“I have spent my childhood in Namibia and my wife is Namibian. Namibia is a well-developed and peaceful African country. It is the only nation from sub-Saharan Africa that has an embassy in Helsinki,” said Valkonen.
According to Valkonen, Finland has a lot to offer to Namibia, for example in terms of governance development and education cooperation and Namibia has a lot to offer to Finland as a stable gateway to southern Africa.
“Europe should cooperate more with the Global South to support democratic and constitutional development processes in these countries. This is essential, especially in the current global political climate. Moreover, Africa has huge potential for investment and trade and many critical strategic natural resources,” he added.
Namibia and Finland share a particularly long history. Finns have been present in Namibia for over 150 years and Finland has had an important role in Namibia’s development as well as in its process of independence. Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari is an honorary citizen of Namibia. Enditem
