On May 23, 2022, regular consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland on bilateral political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation were held in Bishkek.

The Kyrgyz delegation was headed by the Director of the Third Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Bekbolotov. The head of the Finnish delegation was Director General of the Department for Cooperation with Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland Marja Liivala.

At the beginning of the negotiations, the parties noted that on March 23, 2022, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kyrgyzstan and Finland took place. In this regard, the current state and promising directions for the development of bilateral cooperation were discussed.

In particular, issues of the possible organization of mutual visits at the highest and high levels were considered, which will give an additional impetus to the development of Kyrgyz-Finnish cooperation.

The parties noted the importance of expanding inter-parliamentary cooperation, and interaction between the parliamentary Friendship Groups of the Kyrgyz Republic and Finland.

In the field of trade and economic cooperation, the parties discussed the organization of joint business forums, as well as the implementation of investment projects in Kyrgyzstan.

During the consultations, the parties also discussed the prospects for the development of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, especially in the field of education. We considered the possibilities of establishing cooperation between the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic named after K. Dikambaev and the University of Helsinki.

Taking into account that the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic pays special attention to the issues of providing jobs for citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic abroad, Director Ruslan Bekbolotov noted the interest in establishing cooperation in the field of employment of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic in Finland, emphasizing that Kyrgyzstan has relevant agreements with the UK and the Republic of Korea.

Also, attention was paid to issues of interaction within the European Union, mutual support to the elected bodies of the UN.

The parties exchanged views on topical issues on the international agenda, including the situation in Ukraine.

At the end of the meeting, we agreed to hold the next foreign policy consultations in 2023 in the city of Helsinki.