President Halonen visiting Paris and Geneva

President of the Republic Tarja Halonen will be in Paris on Saturday 15 February 2003 to meet President Jacques Chirac together with President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

Presidents Halonen and Mkapa co-chair the ILO-appointed World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation. The purpose of the visit is to brief President Chirac on the World Commission's work and discuss how France can contribute to promoting the positive impacts of globalisation.

From Paris President Halonen will continue to a meeting of the World Commission in Geneva on 16-18 February 2003. The World Commission, which began its work a year ago, has the task of deliberating the social ramifications of globalisation and presenting recommendations as to how as many countries and individuals as possible can become part of the globalisation process and share its benefits.

It has met three times so far, in addition to which its programme has included numerous national and regional dialogue events and hearings, most recently in Tanzania on 6-7 February 2003. The World Commission is due to submit its final report by the end of the year.