Tallinn to sign new memorandum of understanding with Helsinki

  • 2022-04-05
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN – At its Wednesday's meeting, the Tallinn city government intends to approve a new memorandum of understanding to be concluded with the City of Helsinki.

Mayor of Tallinn Mihhail Kolvart is to be authorized to sign the memorandum on behalf of the city. The memorandum is to be signed during a meeting of the mayors of Tallinn and Helsinki on April 8 in Helsinki, the draft to be approved by the city government says.

The memorandum is a framework document that lists the priorities for twin-city cooperation between Tallinn and Helsinki: increasing competitiveness and visibility to attract talent, tourists and businesses to the region; cooperation in the field of digital and data management; development of smart and climate-neutral mobility and transport solutions; and cooperation on climate and sustainable development.

For the implementation of the objectives, a more detailed action plan will be prepared after the signing of the memorandum, in which cooperation projects and joint activities will be agreed. As the cooperation between Tallinn and Helsinki is very broad-based and takes place in different formats, the action plan is an open document that leaves room for launching new activities, initiatives and projects.

The results of the implementation of the memorandum and its action plan were discussed at a meeting of the mayors in May 2021, where it was decided to update the cooperation framework and agree on an action plan for initiating joint cooperation projects and activities. The memorandum has been prepared taking into account the recommendations of the third Finnish-Estonian future cooperation study, published in March of this year.

The fulfilment of the memorandum entails no additional costs for the city. The financial resources for cooperation with partner cities are set forth in the city's budget. Joint sectoral projects will be carried out mainly with funds requested from the European Union's territorial cooperation programs and, if budgetary resources are available, from the city's budget.

The previous memorandum of understanding between Tallinn and Helsinki, agreed for the period 2018-2021, expired on Dec. 31 last year.