Savonia UAS and the Kuopio region are interesting and potential partners for the Netherlands, said Dutch Ambassador H.E Mr Govert Bijl de Vroe during his visit to Savonia on Tuesday 20.8.2024.

Among other things, the Ambassador visited Savonia’s water laboratory.

-The activities of the water cluster in your region are interesting. You have more water here in Finland than we do, so you also have a lot of expertise in water management.

Another interesting area where the Kuopio region and Savonia could contribute is comprhensive security.

In the Netherlands, we are rebuilding our concept of comprehensive security. We are very interested in how Finland, and especially Eastern Finland, sees things, and we are following with interest if, and how, national competence center for comprehensive security in Kuopio is going to be built.

The third topic of interest is tourism. The Ambassador said that a group of Dutch skaters have participated in the Kuopio Ice Marathon several years, as there are no longer opportunities to skate on natural ice in the Netherlands.

Ulla Pekkarinen, a lecturer at Savonia, becomes Honorary Consul of the Netherlands

The announcement of the new Honorary Consul of the Netherlands brought the Ambassador to Kuopio and Savonia. The nomination ceremony took place on Tuesday 20 August 2024 at the Savonian Campus Heart. Ulla Pekkarinen, Lecturer in Business Studies at Savonia, was appointed as the new Honorary Consul.

Honorary Consuls are primarily local advisors to the Ambassador and also perform a number of liaison duties. Their role is to protect the interests of the country they represent and, where necessary, to advise and assist the citizens of that country in the country in which they operate. They also have other tasks, such as promoting business opportunities between Finland and the Netherlands.

Mrs Pekkarinen brings with her extensive experience and solid expertise in the Kuopio business community, as well as
university networks. The Honorary Consul’s duties include representing the Ambassador when necessary and assisting Dutch citizens in problematic or emergency situations. However, both Bijl de Vroe and Pekkarinen hope that cooperation will focus primarily on developing joint business opportunities, research cooperation and other joint activities.

-The Honorary Consul is our eyes and ears in the region. His local knowledge and network will help the Embassy in its work. It is important that we have contacts throughout Finland, not just in the capital region,” says the Ambassador.

-“To my part, I hopefully can promote contacts and cooperation with the Netherlands, both in Savonia, Kuopio and the whole of Eastern Finland,” says Pekkarinen.

The Embassy of the Netherlands is located in Helsinki. In addition to Kuopio, the state has honorary consulates in Mariehamn, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Turku and Vaasa.