Minister Leppä visits South Korea and Singapore

Finland’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä will visit South Korea and Singapore on 8–12 January 2018. He will be accompanied by a Team Finland delegation consisting of representatives from Finnish authorities and businesses. The visit will be carried out in cooperation with the Food from Finland programme, led by Business Finland, and it aims to promote the business activities of Finnish food companies in the important Asian markets.

In South Korea, the Team Finland delegation will include companies from the meat industry. The aim is to promote the trade of Finnish poultry meat and other poultry products and that of certain milk products. The delegation will also include specialists from the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira. During his visit, Minister Leppä will meet Vice Minister Choi Sung-rak of the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Kim Yung-rok.

South Korea is one of Finland’s most important and long-standing trade partners outside the EU and Finland has exported, for example, forest and shipyard industry products to the country. Over the past years, growth has been increasingly sought in high value-added foods.

From South Korea, Minister Leppä will continue to Singapore where he will meet Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong and Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran. This will be the first ministerial level Team Finland visit to Singapore and the business delegation will include representatives from ten Finnish breweries and distilleries and meat product companies. The aim of the Singapore visit is to promote trade relations between the two countries and increase the trade of Finnish poultry and pork and that of high-quality alcoholic beverages.

Companies: Altia Oyj, Atria Finland Ltd, HKScan Oyj, HKScan Asia Ltd, Kyrö Distillery Company, Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas Oy, L’Uomu Nokka / Luomu Invest Oy, Northern Lights Spirits Oy, Shaman Spirits Oy, Tenu Ventures Ltd, The Helsinki Distilling Company, Ägras Distillery Oy.

Inquiries:

Risto Lahti, Special Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, tel. + 358 50 565 0424

Jaana Husu-Kallio, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, tel. +358 40 029 1910

Jyri Ollila, Director for International Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, tel. +358 50 505 7534

Esa Wrang, Director, Head of Industry, Business Finland, tel. +358 400 243076