Monrovia - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Wednesday received, in separate ceremonies, the Letters of Credence of the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada and Finland at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia.

The new Canadian Ambassador, Her Excellency Chantal De Varennes, is resident in Côte d’Ivoire with oversight on Liberia. The Finnish Ambassador, Her Excellency Ritta Korpivaara, is resident in Abuja, Nigeria, and also covers Ghana, Senegal, Benin and Liberia. Canada-Liberia ties date back to 1971, while relations with Finland were established in the 1980s.

At the presentation ceremony, Ambassador Varennes congratulated the Liberian leader on her re-election as President, for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and for the remarkable work done in her first term.  By such achievements, the Ambassador said, Liberia has shown the world that rebuilding a country devastated by war and civil unrest is possible.

She said the presence of the Canadian company that is managing the Liberia Electricity Corporation is a good example of constructive partnership, and she expressed the hope that more Canadian investment in Liberia would help address issues of unemployment, peace-building and national reconstruction.

She promised to ensure the review of the Canadian Travel Advisory on Liberia, as the situation in the country has improved tremendously. She believed that the lifting of the Travel Advisory would attract more Canadian investors to Liberia.

Finnish Ambassador Korpivaara also congratulated the President for her re-election and for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and noted that Liberia is improving very fast under the stewardship of President Sirleaf.

She informed the President about a pending visit of the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament to Liberia in May, for talks with President Sirleaf, members of the National Legislature and other actors. She said she looked forward to the growth of Finland-Liberia relations.

Responding, the Liberian President recounted the roles of both Finland and Canada in Liberia’s peace process through their support to ECOMOG and UNMIL, and for their roles in the waiver of Liberia’s nearly US$5 billion external debt.

The activities and interventions of groups such as Right to Play, headed by a Canadian, the Canadian company managing the electricity sector, as well as the initial deployment of troops from Ireland with Finnish support were critical to addressing Liberia’s recovery, President Sirleaf said.

She acknowledged current efforts by a former Finnish Defense Minister, Mrs. Elisabeth Rehn, to implement a project against gender-based violence in Liberia, as evidence of good relations between the peoples of Liberia and Finland.

President Sirleaf also briefed the two Ambassadors about the Poverty Reduction Strategy which has ended and about the efforts currently under way to develop a long-term vision for Liberia – An Agenda for Transformation.