FINLAND: MINISTER PEKKARINEN TO ATTEND WIREC 2008

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000768 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR OES FOR WIREC ACTION GROUP LEADER STAN SPECHT AND OES SPECIAL ASSISTANT CAMILLE HILL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG EPET SOCI TRGY KPAO KSCA FI SUBJECT: FINLAND: MINISTER PEKKARINEN TO ATTEND WIREC 2008 REF: A. STATE 138428 ¶B. HELSINKI 00690 ¶1. (SBU) According to Finnish MFA sources, Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen will lead a Finnish delegation to the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) in March 2008. The exact composition of the delegation will be decided at a later date. According to Henri Backman, Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Pekkarinen is interested in speaking opportunities during the Conference. Renewable energy, mostly from wood sources, already accounts for 20 percent of Finland's primary energy consumption and 10 percent of electricity demand. Pekkarinen is a strong advocate of GOF policies to increase Finnish renewable energy use to 35 percent in the next decade. ¶2. (SBU) Following WIREC 2008, Pekkarinen will likely travel to California to learn more about renewable energy production on the west coast and to visit Finland,s business promotion office, FinNode, in San Jose. WARE