Today, 12 January in 1951, President of Finland, Mr. J.K. Paasikivi sent a letter to H.M. King George VI, and announced to nominate Mr. Asko Ivalo, Finland’s Ambassador to Ankara as the first ever Ambassador of Finland to Karachi, Pakistan.
Happy 75th Anniversary Finland and Pakistan!
The first Honorary Consul of Pakistan to Finland was nominated a year earlier when Mr. Karl Ragnar Öller started his ten years tenure on May 4, 1950. My ten years, being the 5th one ever, is reached next month. It has been a great honor to be part of this long legacy and there is definitely more to come so be ready!
It’s time to celebrate! Even that we received the unfortunate news of closing the Embassy of Finland in Islamabad just before the end of 2025. Finnish government was forced to do some budget cuts and yes, we all know that it shouldn’t have been done – it was done once before and Embassy was closed for ten years between 2012-2022 – as the bilateral economical and trade activities are on higher level than ever before.
Yes, I can openly say that I was hoping to witness growing and developing activities of Embassy of Finland in Islamabad, and also opening of Embassy of Pakistan in Helsinki to celebrate this huge bilateral milestone of 75 years but there are things out of my control. But let’s keep the flags up and keep the business growing. Pakistan is one of the fastest growing export markets of Finnish companies and booming mining cluster keeps supporting those moves in the future. And plenty of new projects also in education, skills, technology, textile, sustainability, research and beyond.
Let’s celebrate!
Wille Eerola, Hon. Consul General of Pakistan in Finland (2016-), Chairman of Finland Pakistan Business Council (2014-)
