Seychelles-Finland-Outgoing consul decorated |20 July 2013

The President of Finland has awarded Mr Soundy with this decoration for his long service for Finland in Seychelles.

Mr Soundy was decorated by Ambassador of Finland to Seychelles, Sofie From-Emmesberger, during a recent ceremony in Victoria.
At the same event, Marja Karjalainen formally took over her duties as the new honorary consul.

Ms Karjalainen has a background as public servant in Seychelles and has lived in the island state for 36 years.

Finland and Seychelles established diplomatic relations in 1987. Although being geographically far apart, the countries have many common interests, the fight against piracy being one of them.
 
Finland is, as a member of the EU, engaged in the anti-piracy work and in building maritime capacity through the EU Atalanta and EUCAP Nestor operations. Finland is together with other Nordic countries also involved in the training of the East African Standby Forces.
 
The efforts to mitigate effects of climate change is another area of joint interest.
 
The Finnish embassy was one of the sponsors to equip the research station at Aldabra with solar panels. The presence of Finland in Seychelles can also be felt through some Finnish companies.
Seychelles is further well known in Finland as a splendid tourist destination.

Speaking about her new task, Ms Karjalainen said she was looking forward to it.
"I see a lot of potential to further deepen the relations between our two countries. We can engage at different levels and with many different stakeholders," she said.