The current Ambassador of Finland Lars Backström started his posting to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands on 1 September 2016. His life has been filled with unique experiences that have given him his refined globalist outlook on international relations to date. He has appeared in the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest person to travel to all 192 independent countries (at the time), published his book Katastrofin Kasvot: Seitsemän Vuotta Humanitaarisen Avun Parissa (Faces of Catastrophe: 7 years in the service of humanitarian aid), and worked for 35 years in the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved in multilateral affairs, disarmament, political affairs, peace mediation and humanitarian assistance. Having served in a number of countries and having been ambassador in six countries before Australia including China, it has given him a wealth of experience to draw from.
Trade promotion is a priority but it's also important to take care of our citizens here in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere in the Pacific. It's a very challenging region because of the huge distances. Travelling from Canberra to Perth is like going from Helsinki, Finland to Lisbon, Portugal. We are tasked to do a lot with the little resources that we have. I will be the Ambassador to eight countries in the region. Five of them are small island nations. Papa New Guinea and New Zealand are larger countries and Australia is a continent.
Our message to the business community is that we will do our share and we hope that businesses will help us as well. There is plenty for us to do as we are approached by some sixty to seventy companies every year. We also have the Team Finland group furthering business relationships between Finland and Australia. Team Finland consists of the Embassy, people from the Finnish Australian Chamber of Commerce and our Honorary Consuls around Australia and the Pacific.
I often think of myself as a globalist. Finland is a small country and we are outward looking. We depend on trade and we need a world with less trade barriers, not more. We must have this global approach to look at the world as a whole. There are so many question marks hanging over the world right now. We need to tackle global challenges – wars, conflict, global warming, poverty and inequality. And we must make sure that trade is working globally.
I have visited so many corners of the world. I have seen that people are not so different from place to place. People go to work; they have a family, children and friends. We have the same aspirations – we want to be healthy, make a better tomorrow, make sure the children grow up and have a better life than their parents. That unites all of us.
I came to Australia 40 years ago when I was on a trip around the world. Hitchhiking, travelling by train, bus, bicycle, plane, horse, cart… everything! I arrived in Perth from Asid and travelled around two thirds of Australia. I was very well received by people and they reached out to me, inviting me into their homes. I went to New Zealand and had the same positive experience there. And then on to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, North America, South America. It was an epic journey and it was probably the happiest time in my life. I was free; I had no responsibilities and enough money to manage. It was a great learning lesson at what I call, the University of Life.
I was speaking in January at the suvipäivät here in Canberra (the summer days that the churches in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane organise on a regular basis). I used my mother as an example. She just passed away but she lived 87 years out of these 100 years [of Finnish independence] in Finland. So many changes took place during her lifetime. It's important to have the historic perspective of what Finland looked like 100 years ago and what Australia looked like 100 years ago. So much has been achieved over the years for the better. At the Embassy, we will do our very best to keep the Finland 100 celebrations going and hopefully in as many places around Australia as possible. Of course, Canberra is our main centre of operations but the Finnish diaspora has been very helpful. Many organise their own events like the Finnish Festival in Melbourne, which I think is excellent. Finland 100 will keep us very busy and gives us the great opportunity to tell Finland's story in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere in the Pacific. You only turn 100 once!
Australians are very open and social people. Everyone finds time to talk to you wherever you go. Finland is also quite well known in Australia. I get the feeling that most people recognise us as a Northern European Nordic country. Australians, like Finns, are straightforward people and it's easy to communicate. Culturally, I don't feel that there are that many differences.
When my wife and I arrived in Australia, we were invited to a Finnish event in Canberra in support of women. I was very pleased that I was accepted to go along and it was a really nice program. There are a number of events happening around Australia throughout the year. We want to reach out to the Finnish community as well, especially for this year which marks 100 years of independence for Finland.
There are other great events that we have attended too, such as the Christmas Parade with Father Christmas in Perth in 2016. We were very happy to have been in attendance with masses of people there. As the Ambassador I am also doing state visits to visit the Premiers and the Governors and with my wife Brigitta we were in Hobart, Tasmania in early February. It so happened that the state visit coincided with the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival which is one of the three top festivals in Australia. There were some 500 wooden boats in Hobart and some 250 000 people taking part.
So many of our Finnish citizens are living in Australia and there are many Australians with Finnish origin. All have a story to tell. And that's the whole point of the Finland 100 slogan for the year, together/yhdessä. We're not just celebrating an anniversary of our Republic but also celebrating the people. Everyone who has lived during these 100 years, whether they've lived a short while or a long while, we celebrate them. It's their story. It's our story.
Updated 3/23/2017
