On 15 and 16 May, H.E. Mrs. Anne Saloranta, Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Latvia, visited Valmiera.

Jānis Baiks, Chairman of Valmiera Municipality, introduced the Ambassador to the projects of national significance implemented by the municipality – the development of Valmiera Industrial and Export Park and Valmiera Industrial Park. Latvian and Finnish business development, international cooperation and investment opportunities in Valmiera and Valmiera region were discussed. The ambassador explored the diversity and offer of municipal services in education, culture, sports and other areas, as well as gained a comprehensive picture of the quality of the living environment in the county.

During the visit, H.E. Anne Saloranta visited several companies working in Valmiera related to Finland. The new production building of SIA "Defence Partnership Latvia" has been visited, for which the opening is planned soon. Get acquainted with the working environment and values of SIA "Wunder Latvia", cooperation with its representative offices in Finland and Estonia, as well as web solutions developed for clients. The production facility of SIA "VALPRO" was also visited, the company's activities and export markets were acquainted. It was important for the Finnish Ambassador to Latvia to learn from the municipality and entrepreneurs how they assess the availability of the workforce and the qualifications of employees in order to promote opportunities for Finnish cooperation with Valmiera Municipality in economics and education.

During his visit to Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, she learned about the offered study opportunities, research, the university's activities in the network of higher education institutions "European University E³UDRES²", as well as about cooperation with educational institutions in Finland. As one of the areas of interest of the Finnish Embassy in Latvia is digitalisation in the health sector, Vidzeme hospital was also visited during the visit. During the meeting, the hospital's activities, development plans and the challenges of the regional hospital in the digital environment were presented.

In Valmiera, H.E. Anne Saloranta also visited Jānis Daliņš Stadium, Valmiera Museum exposition "de Woldemer", Valmiera Integrated Library, as well as contemporary art space "Kurtuve".