The governor of Tokyo visited Helsinki in mid-August as a guest of the city’s mayor, Juhana Vartiainen. During her visit, Governor Yuriko Koike toured Helsinki’s Maria 01 startup campus, met with the Slush startup event’s team, visited a public upper secondary school and maternity and child health clinic, and an underground civil shelter. On Monday, August 21, Governor Koike and Mayor Vartiainen signed a joint communique.
Cooperation between the cities of Helsinki and Tokyo has deepened in recent years. A concrete example of this new form of cooperation is, for example, a joint programme that has been established between the two cities’ secondary education institutes. This programme arranges upper secondary school opportunities to make exchange visits.
During Governor Koike's visit, several new opportunities for cooperation were also identified. Helsinki and Tokyo share a goal to jointly increase their residents’ well-being and promote the discovery of new solutions to the challenges affecting all large cities in the world today.
"Our cooperation has deepened of late, and we will continue to foster a close relationship. Both of our cities are committed to nurturing a diverse society where everyone can freely realize their goals. At the same time, we wish to promote future investments that create sustainable values and growth. It is a pleasure to note that Helsinki has a lot to offer a mega city like Tokyo. At the same time, however, I believe Helsinki has a lot to learn from Tokyo, for example, in the areas of urban planning and green technology related to climate change,” said Mayor Vartiainen.