Vayrynen said that Finland will contest the election for the Security Council seat in UN General Assembly next year. He also said his talks with his Saudi counterpart covered recent events in Tunisia, the Middle East peace process, Palestine and several other issues of common concern.

The Finnish minister was accompanied by about 40 top officials and businessmen from his country.

“The talks with Saudi officials underscored the importance of using the expertise of the two countries and collaborate in different fields,” said Vayrynen. “My talks with senior Saudi officials focused on the new vision of political and business relations, especially in the fields of education, health, mineral exploration and technology.”

Vayrynen met with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza and Technical and Vocational Training Corporation Gov. Ali Al-Ghafees.

Vayrynen said Helsinki can work together with the Kingdom in the field of renewable energy and security in the field of nuclear power. To this end, the minister noted that Finland is currently building its fifth nuclear plant.

“Plans are afoot to build two more nuclear plants in the near future,” said Vayrynen.

The minister said his visit would help increase trade with the Kingdom, which had been in the region of $1 billion annually in the past. Two-way trade has gone down to $300 million annually, he noted.

Referring to the Finland's expertise in mineral exploration, the minister said his country has two major world-class companies in mineral exploration. The Outotec and Hatch joint venture recently signed a 50-million-euro contract and is currently engaged in delivering an integrated bauxite digestion and evaporation facility to the Maaden aluminum plant in Ras Az Zour. The new facility will be the lowest-cost aluminum complex in the world.