The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will hold a ministerial meeting in Paris on 17 January. The topics on the agenda are migration and integration. Finland will be represented by Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo.
According to the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, at the meeting, the ministers of the participating countries will discuss future challenges, opportunities and good practices related to migration and integration. One of the questions to be explored is preparedness for large-scale migration.
"We have learnt a lot from previous experiences. For example, the EU and its Member States have developed data collection and analysis in recent years to better direct migration policy towards the future. Finland also stressed the importance of this development during its Presidency of the Council of the EU," says Minister of the Interior Ohisalo.
Mobility of international talents
Minister Ohisalo will chair the discussion on labour mobility. The discussion will look at different ways of ensuring that economic migration brings benefits to both the countries of origin and the countries of destination.
"It is natural that people move from one country to another in a global world. International talents are of great importance to Finland’s wellbeing and competitiveness," Minister Ohisalo says.
The ministerial meeting also sets out to define the priorities for the OECD's migration and integration policy work.
Meeting with business leaders
The meeting will be preceded by a high-level policy forum on 16 January, bringing together not only ministers and public officials but also business leaders, researchers and representatives of organisations. Finland will be represented at the forum by Sonja Hämäläinen, Migration Director at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
Integration of immigrants is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment assumed the responsibility for the labour migration administration at the beginning of the year. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the overall migration policy.
