Finland - Northeast Asia Trade Association was established in 1992 to promote Finnish trade and economic interests in Northeast Asia. The Association regards Northeast Asia as a region covering Japan and the Korean peninsula, the northeastern parts of China, the Russian Far East and Mongolia. Sometimes the term is extended to include Taiwan and Hong Kong, too.

The first Chairman of the Association was the former Finnish Ambassador to China and North Korea, Dr. Risto Hyvärinen. The second Chairman in 1999-2008 was Mr. Markku Heiskanen, Senior Expert of NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, and Senior Researcher Associate of the Center for Pacific Asia Studies (CPAS), Stockholm University. He continues to serve as a member of the Board at the Association. The present chairman is Dr. Kristiina Korhonen.  

The Association’s special interest in the 2000s has been the development of the “Iron Silk Road”, the railway connection from the Korean peninsula to Europe, based on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Association arranged a Eurasian Railways Symposium in Helsinki in April 2002, in cooperation with VR/Finnish Railways. The report of the symposium can be read on this website. The Association welcomes the historic test trains across the inter-Korean frontier on  May 2007, and the start of regular freight train traffic across the Inter-Korean border in December 2007 as a major step forward in realizing the "Iron Silk Road" from the Korean peninsula to Europe, Finland included.

The current interests of the Association include regional topics that do not respect man-made political borders, such as environmental issues, energy and logistics. In coming years, special attention will be paid to Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Russian coasts of the Far East and Siberia. 

We warmly welcome non-Finnish citizens to be our members.

For more information about the Association, please contact:

Finland – Northeast Asia Trade Association
Pauliina Raappana
Urheilutie 7 A, 01370 Vantaa, Finland

Chairman:
Dr. Kristiina Korhonen
GSM +358 50 578 1276
e-mail: kristiina.korhonenAThdl.fi

Vice Chairman: Mr. Markku Heiskanen
GSM +358 40 594 2681
e-mail: markku.heiskanenATpp1.inet.fi

Secretary: Ms. Pauliina Raappana
GSM +358 50 363 4854
e-mail: pauliina.raappanaATkolumbus.fi