release The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) Mathematics and natural sciences 18.06.2010 13:25 Communications contact Sini Autio sini.autio@gtk.fi Phone: 020 550 2322 Mobile: 040-548 6545 Fax: GTK participates in cooperation in the field of geology in Central Asia The Wider Europe Initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland augments Finnish foreign and security policies in Eastern Central Europe, Southern Caucasus and Central Asia. The goal of the framework programme is to promote sustainable development in terms of ecology, economy and society. The programme defines common themes that will be implemented in each area according to their individual conditions, needs and priorities. The initiative is carried out in cooperation with international financial institutions and various organisations. EUR 8.5 million of Finnish development cooperation funds have been reserved for funding the Wider Europe Initiative. Participants in the initiative include Finnish government institutions, such as Finland’s environmental administration (SYKE), Finnish Meteorological Institute, Statistics Finland, and GTK. As a part of the aforementioned programme, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and GTK have signed a commission agreement on Geo-Sector Information Management System Development and Capacity Building in Central Asian countries, 1. preparatory phase. GTK has prepared the project with support and governance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since early 2008 in cooperation with Central Asian countries. The duration of the commission signed in August 2009 is 11 months, during which a detailed project document will be drawn up together with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and if possible, with Turkmenistan. The project document will contain strategies for obtaining and maintaining geoinformation for each target country. These include implementation plans for digitising geoinformation from each country, data management, maintaining data and especially plans concerning obtaining and distributing data as well as the visibility of data. The planning phase will be carried out during mutual visits and common workshops. In addition to the project preparation team, this phase will employ GTK’s experts especially during partners’ visits to Finland and while drawing up the project document. The partners will probably visit Finland in March 2010. The work contribution of GTK during the commission is 22 man-months. The actual project, which is planned to start in late 2010, includes several components, such as GIS and remote sensing training, digitising data and developing information services. Cooperation between the countries in the field of geology will be promoted by creating a regional thematic map. The long-term goal of the project is to increase the amount of international investments in Central Asia, increase transparency and availability of information in the mining sector, and to strengthen the cooperation between Central Asian countries. For further information, please contact: Jukka Multala, geophysicist, jukka.multala gtk.fi Further information on The Wider Europe Initiative is available at the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland: http://formin.finland.fi/public/download.aspx?ID=44780&GUID=9d58a09e-09bc-43a7-bc54-4ad88df9f452 Reference link: http://en.gtk.fi/