Historical archive

Strengthened High North cooperation between Norway and Finland

Historical archive

Published under: Solberg's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

‘Norway and Finland are establishing a partnership with a view to cooperating more closely on the High North. The aim is to strengthen economic and scientific cooperation between our two countries,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.

‘Norway and Finland are establishing a partnership with a view to cooperating more closely on the High North. The aim is to strengthen economic and scientific cooperation between our two countries,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.

The Arctic partnership was launched at a meeting today in Helsinki between Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja and Mr Brende. Norway and Finland have a number of common interests in relation to the development of the High North, due to their 730-kilometre shared border and close ties.

‘Finland and Norway share many common interests in the Arctic and the High North. I am pleased that our relationship is becoming stronger even there and that the Arctic partnership is now getting concrete contents. There is still plenty of potential for further strengthening the ties – particularly in economic relations,’ said Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja.

Under the new Arctic partnership and through existing cooperation mechanisms, the relevant ministries in the two countries will now work to increase the number of exchange students and promote research cooperation, dialogue on transport and logistics, strengthened regional cooperation and an increased flow of labour and services between Norway and Finland. Increased cross-border cooperation in the north is a key aspect of the Government’s High North policy.

‘Our aim is that the High North becomes an innovative and knowledge-based region of growth. In order to achieve this, it is essential that the transfer of knowledge, expertise and services across borders is increased. The Arctic partnership with Finland is a good example of how we are giving priority to cooperation of this kind across sectors and borders,’ said Mr Brende.