In his words, the forum attended by more than 400 delegates was an excellent site for expanding Russian-Finnish business contacts and exchange of experience.
The delegates took the decision to make the Russian-Finnish economic forum an annual event. Next year, it will be held in Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia, Finland's eastern neighbor.
Among those who took part in the work of the forum were representatives of Russian and foreign business circles, federal and regional authorities, public organizations, unions and associations, as well as specialists, scientists and public figures.
Reports were delivered by Paula Lehtomaki, Finland's minister for foreign trade and development, Leena Luhtanen, minister of transport and communications, Dmitry Milovantsev, Russia's deputy minister of communications, and Sergei Katyurin, deputy chief of Russia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The forum participants discussed numerous issues related to Russian-Finnish cooperation in such spheres as transport and communications, logistics, energy, construction, metallurgy, forest harvesting and timber processing, and ecology, as well as projects in the social sphere and that of public health.
The development of science-intensive sectors of production, including the application of the latest researches in the sphere of nanotechnologies, was among the main themes discussed at the forum.
The forum also discussed possibilities to develop computer technologies and Internet communications.
Rectors of Finnish and Russian universities held a round table on problems of higher education.
Simultaneously with the the forum, an international parliamentary seminar on "Northern Dimension" was held in Oulu on the Finnish parliament's initiative. The participants exchanged experience of parliamentary activity and agreed to expand inter-parliamentary cooperation.
The seminar discussed the situation and prospects for Russian-Finnish cooperation in the Baltic region and the Barents and Euro-Arctic areas. The seminar participants also examined prospects for the Northern Dimension strategy. The second stage of this project is to be completed in 2007.
Jaakko Okkonen, director of the Oulu Chamber of Commerce, presented a report on prospects for Finnish investments in Russia. He called on Finnish businessmen to invest funds in Russian production more actively. In Mr Okkonen's opinion, Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be decisive in this matter.
Last year, the volume of accumulated Finnish investments into the Russian economy exceeded $1 billion. By the Finnish partners' estimates, this amount may exceed $2 billion in light of long-term plans of the Finnish companies.
