Newly accredited Ambassador of Finland to CARICOM H.E. Mikko Pyhälä has pledged support in building the region’s resilience to natural disasters through the development of technologies that could provide “real time data” of impending hurricanes and floods.
During remarks at the Ceremony for the Presentation of his Credentials at CARICOM headquarters on Tuesday, Pyhälä said Finland is aggregating useful satellite weather data but in order for it to have relevance to CARICOM countries it must be calibrated with existing weather and topographical data which are available in digitised form, mostly in Guyana.
With the majority of Guyana’s population concentrated on the coastline, which is below sea level, Pyhälä said his country is interested in introducing flood forecasting technology there.
“Guyana, more than any other country in the Western Hemisphere is at great risk for flooding and Finland has the technology which could help,” he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by CARICOM.
Pyhälä said he would seek to discuss this possibility with international aids agencies and national authorities in Guyana towards its implementation.
Meanwhile, he noted that Finland is making “unprecedented efforts” to forge closer alliances with the Caribbean, and he said it is willing to provide greater assistance in capacity building as well as equipment and software to advance developments in the area of meteorology. “Weather services in the Caribbean have served air transport, but needs exist in agriculture, tourism, navigation, and in disaster prevention. There is need for precise and ‘real time’ information, especially since hurricanes have become more frequent in island states,” Pyhälä said.
In an effort to build capacity for disaster preparedness, he said Finland had plans to introduce automatic weather forecasting technology with internet-friendly applications in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. “If there was real time weather forecasting, the media and authorities can say, with precision, where hurricanes will hit and when.”
On cooperation in the education sector, Pyhälä said his government is considering an offer to hold consultations in the Caribbean on best practices in education, given Finland’s successes in reading, mathematics and science. “We could tell of our experience,” he said. He added that his country is also interested in fostering greater cultural exchanges through tourism.
With regard to support in the energy sector, Pyhälä said Finland wants to pursue an Environment Energy Partnership with CARICOM, similar to one which it has with the Central American Integration System (SICA) that involves the implementation of “environmentally benign energy solutions.”
In respect of Finland’s support of efforts to protect the Caribbean Sea as a special marine environment, the Ambassador stated his government will be facilitating an expert consultation on the governance of the Caribbean Sea, in collaboration with the Caribbean Sea Commission and the Association of Caribbean States, from July 7 to July 9, in Barbados.
Meanwhile, he added that Finland is willing to help institutions like the European Union (EU) be more sensitive to the needs of CARICOM. He said his country appreciates CARICOM’s importance as a body which represents the economic, commercial and other interests of its members. “In today’s globalised world, it is not easy for small states to be effective players in economic and commercial exchange,” he said, adding that the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean Pacific States had brought the region into the same sphere as “the big league.” In this regard, Pyhälä said Finland is keen on hearing and understanding CARICOM’s concerns and it is willing to help others in the EU to be “sensitive to such concerns.”
The Ambassador also said Finland was assisting in the economic development of the region through its contribution to the CARICOM Development Fund and through the European Development Fund, to which it channels 25% of its Overseas Development Aid.
In addition, he said his country had pledged its support to Haiti’s long term recovery with an allocation of €$12.7 million for the rebuilding of the earthquake-ravaged state.
