Finland Seeks To Strengthen Educational Ties With Malaysia - Ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Bernama) -- Finland seeks to strengthen educational ties with Malaysia focusing more on the information and communications technology (ICT), said Finland ambassador to Malaysia Petri Puhakka. Puhakka said education could build bridges between the two countries aside from one of ways to maintain good ties. "There are a lot of potentials in this country that we could grab here. What we do is try to increase the number for student exhange programmes. We also try to explore more on what we can share here such as in the field of expertise. "Some Finns told me that they received a good amount of working incentives here especially in the ICT field," he told reporters at Wisma Bernama here Wednesday. Earlier, he appeared as a guest on the 'Bernama Today' programme produced by Bernama News Channel (BNC). Puhakka said currently more than 300 Finns reside in Malaysia and hoped the number would increase in future. "We hope to cooperate better with Malaysia in many areas as well as trying to get closer to the community. We are also looking forward to build the future together especially in critical fields," he added. He assumed his post here in May last year. Diplomatic relations between Finland and Malaysia were established in 1972. Touching on Finland's 100 years of independence celebration on Dec 6, he said several programmes had been planned to be held in this country this year. "Some cultural events will take place somewhere in May. We are trying to bring a Finnish band here for that event," he added. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA