Prime Minister Marin meets with Portuguese Prime Minister in Porto

Prime Minister Sanna Marin met with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa on Thursday 6 May in Porto. The main themes of their bilateral meeting were increasing economic cooperation between the countries and topical EU issues. Finland and Portugal have traditionally had good relations, which have been further deepened by EU partnership.

Portugal has identified forestry development as one of the key areas of its post-pandemic economic recovery plan. One of the main objectives of developing forest management is to reduce forest fires, which have increased dramatically in Portugal as a result of drought caused by climate change. Finland and Portugal began their cooperation in the forest sector in connection with a trade mission by then-Prime Minister Juha Sipilä in autumn 2018.

“Finland has leading expertise in the green transition and digital economy, which are of great interest to Portugal. Businesses should seize the opportunity and take advantage of the possibilities offered by the EU recovery instrument. Cooperation between our countries in the forest sector is progressing well,” Prime Minister Marin said.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Marin also addressed the lack of a tax treaty between Finland and Portugal. Portugal has not yet ratified the tax treaty signed in 2016.

Prime Minister Marin’s visit to Portugal will continue on 7 and 8 May, when she will attend the EU summits hosted by the Portuguese Council Presidency.

Inquiries: Jari Luoto, State Under-Secretary for European Affairs, tel. +358 50 468 5949, Tuulia Pitkänen, Special Adviser (EU Affairs), tel. +358 295 160 231, and Anne Sjöholm. Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office