Working visit to Finland and Germany by Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin

Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), will travel to Helsinki on 10 February for a working visit. He will meet Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari and the CEO of the Finnish National Emergency Supply Agency (NESA), Janne Känkänen, for talks in the Finnish capital. Mr Parmelin will then travel to Berlin where a meeting with the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, is scheduled to take place on 11 February. In addition to bilateral relations, the talks between Mr Parmelin and the two Finnish ministers will focus in particular on European policy issues and the economic handling of the Corona crisis in Finland and Switzerland. The discussion with the NESA CEO will concentrate on the countries' national economic supply and crisis management systems. Swiss exports to Finland amounted to CHF 624 million last year, while imports from Finland totalled CHF 1,416 million. Products from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are Switzerland's most important exports to Finland, with precious metals, precious stones and gems dominating with regard to imports.