VISIT BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, TO FINLAND AND RUSSIA, 2 TO 4 FEBRUARY 2005

1.         Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, will be visiting Finland and Russia over 2-4 February 2005.

2.         Mr Shanmugaratnam will be in Finland from 2 to 3 February. He will meet with  his counterpart and educational leaders and visit Finnish schools.  He will be accompanied in Helsinki  by a team of school principals and MOE officials, who will stay on for additional school visits.

3.         In Moscow  on 4 February, Mr Shanmugaratnam will participate in a roundtable convened by World Bank President James Wolfensohn and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on the role of government and public-private partnerships in industrial competitiveness and technological innovation, including the role of the education sector. The roundtable will be attended by the Russian Ministers for Economic Development and Trade; Education and Science; and Industry and Energy, and several Russian Regional Governors.