LUDZIDZINI – The Kingdom of Eswatini continues to strengthen its relationships with the Republic of Finland after 22 years of diplomatic relations. Yesterday, His Majesty King Mswati III welcomed the new ambassador of Finland, Her Excellency Anna-Kais Heikkinen, to Eswatini when she delivered her letters of credence at Ludzidzini Royal residence.
“We are all very much concerned especially with the situations of the world where there are so many conflicts – which has affected not only the European but also many parts of the world including here in Africa where we see that some of these conflicts have some serious consequences of life and property and so on which is always occuring. We hope that there will be peaceful solutions which will be found in all the different conflicts that, of course, are occuring all around the world because conflicts really don’t bring no prosperity into any country but instead they bring disaster. So if we can find peaceful solutions to all of them, that will be very good,” said His Majesty King Mswati III.
His Majesty remarked that “I’ve also been pleased to learn from your country that you are on of the countries which is moving fast, especially when it comes to energy – especially energy which is more friendly to the environment. In this country, Eswatini, we are having agreements which pretty soon will come to an end – within the next two to three years those agreements will come to an end. So the Kingdom is of course in the process of looking for companies that can also produce reliable energy enough for the whole country and so on.
We are looking at many many options, including going for the ones which are less problematic to the environment and so on. So to hear that there are many companies in your country which have that kind of expertise in your country, its of course very interesting for us here in the Kingdom and we hope we can use your office to attract these companies to see what kinds of offers we can give here in the Kingdom so that we can also work with them in establishing the energy sector.”
Echoing His Majesty’s sentiments, Ambassador Heikkinen said “Finnish companies have a lot of expertise in these fields. However it is also important for them to be able to operate in a predictable and transparent business and investment climate. Your Majesty, I would like to reiterate that the Republic of Finland warmly cherishes the good relations we have with the Kingdom of Eswatini. May this special ceremony today further strengthen those bonds.”
Diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic were established on September 20 1990.
