BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10. For bigger-scale projects, Finland has high hopes for the European Investment Bank (EIB), which just signed a Host Country Agreement with Uzbekistan, Finland's Ambassador to Uzbekistan Ilkka Räisänen told Trend in an exclusive interview.
“The EIB could play a crucial role in providing financing for sustainable transport, water management, and climate resilience projects in Uzbekistan,” he said.
The Ambassador pointed out that Finnish companies have shown an increasing interest in Uzbekistan, particularly due to the country’s status as the most populous market in Central Asia and its diverse natural resources.
"Uzbekistan's impressive economic growth, supported by the government’s goal to achieve upper-middle income status by 2030, presents significant opportunities for Finnish businesses. For businesses seeking to enter the Central Asian market, Uzbekistan presents opportunities due to its improved foreign trade and investment climate," Ilkka Räisänen explained.
According to him, Finland has expressed full support for Uzbekistan's goal of joining the WTO with a transparent, predictable, and attractive investment regime. He stressed that this is crucial for encouraging private sector-led growth, investment, and cross-border trade in Uzbekistan.
The ambassador highlighted the role of Finnish institutions in supporting Uzbekistan’s development.
"For example, Finnvera, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) of Finland, has given guarantees to the efficiency-improving modernization of power plants, which have Finnish Wartsila-manufactured generating sets in Uzbekistan. Finland owns the majority of a development financier and impact investor called Finnfund, which has financed Oasis Credit, the first international micro and small business lender in Uzbekistan," he mentioned.
Ilkka Räisänen then drew attention to Finnpartnership, a business partnership program financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and managed by Finnfund, which helps connect Finnish and Uzbek companies for industrial cooperation.
On the topic of water management, the ambassador highlighted Finland’s expertise and long-standing participation in water-related initiatives.
"Globally, we have developed the Finnish Water Way - International Water Strategy for responsible and equitable water security. The strategy has been built on the Finnish approach to sustainable water management based on close cross-sectoral collaboration. Regarding the Aral Sea basin, Finland has quite a long cooperation track record. We contributed to the World Bank Aral Sea Program already in the mid-nineties. Additionally, in 1998, we financed and published a study with the Central Asian countries called Environmental Development Co-operation Opportunities, including various projects related to desertification and drought," he noted.
Ilkka Räisänen emphasized that Finland has also made contributions to the UN Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea, which was initiated by Uzbekistan.
“We are closely monitoring the possibilities emerging from the EU and Uzbekistan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which is expected to be signed later this year. This agreement will open up exciting opportunities for joint programs and cooperation projects in areas such as innovation, clean energy, mining technology, digitalization, transport, and logistics," he added.