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Denmark

Crown Princess Mary starts work visit in Finland

On Wednesday, Crown Princess Mary started a two-day work visit in Finland. Crown Prince Frederik was scheduled to go, but he had to cancel because of his back surgery. Instead of scrapping the whole trip, it was decided Crown Princess Mary would lead the business delegation.

This year marks 100 years since the start of diplomatic relationships between Denmark and Finland. At the same time, the visit aims to strengthen commercial cooperation between the two Nordic countries.

Crown Princess Mary spent her first day in Helsinki. She was officially welcomed at the City Hall by the Mayor of Helsinki, Jan Vapaavuori. Afterwards, she took part in the conference “Urban Solutions in the Nordic Area”. Urbanization is a focus area in Finland, as the country’s major cities are rapidly expanding. After the conference, Danish and Finnish companies had the opportunity to make contact, and Crown Princess Mary took part in the networking event.

The Crown Princess then met with Paula Risikko, the President of the Finnish Parliament. They were joined by the Danish Minister of Food and Environment before having lunch with representatives from the Finnish Parliament, the chairmen of the Environment Committee, the Finnish-Danish Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the Future Committee.

In the afternoon, Crown Princess Mary and the Danish delegation attended a conference at Stora Enso headquarters. Stora Enso is a supplier of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wood, and paper. The discussion focused on knowledge sharing about building with timber and sustainable bioeconomics. The Crown Princess had the opportunity to visit the headquarters and to see some of the company’s products.

The last event scheduled for the afternoon was a visit to the New Nordic Food networking event. There, Danish food and beverages are exhibited to potential Finnish customers. Crown Princess Mary met Danish companies and took part in a cooking show with Finnish chef Tomi Björck.

In the evening, Crown Princess Mary attended an official dinner at Finlandia Hall to celebrate the 100-year diplomatic relations between Denmark and Finland.

The Crown Princess will spend her last day in Turku where she will visit the Mein Schiff 2 ship, the Finland Swan Vessel and the Forum Marinum.