Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a meeting in the format of a videoconference with the appointed Ambassador of Finland with residence in Helsinki Ilkka Räisänen, Dunyo news agency reported.

During the talks, the practical aspects of organizing the visit of the ambassador to Tashkent to present his credentials, holding bilateral meetings in the ministries and departments of Uzbekistan, as well as specific steps for the further comprehensive expansion of Uzbek-Finnish cooperation were discussed.

An agreement was reached to jointly study the issue of holding next rounds of bilateral political consultations and the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Tashkent this year, as well as a visit to Uzbekistan in August 2022 of a Finnish delegation led by the head of the Finnish Inter-Parliamentary Group on Cooperation with the countries of Central Asia by Kimmo Kiljunen.

Career diplomat Ilkka Räisänen worked as an adviser to the chief director of the Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland before being appointed to Tashkent. He is 61 years old.

He replaced as Ambassador Maria Liivala, who headed the Finnish diplomatic mission in Uzbekistan in 2018-2021 with residence in the city of Helsinki and currently works as the Director General of the Department of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of her country.