{"id":8472,"date":"2019-01-25T09:34:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T09:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kvarken.org\/directors-greeting-2\/"},"modified":"2021-03-11T23:03:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T23:03:20","slug":"directors-greeting-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Director\u2019s greeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Present and future prospects<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are pleased to announce that regular maritime traffic over the Kvarken Strait between Finland and Sweden will continue in the future, the ferry\u2019s financing has been obtained, the plans are in order, and the construction agreement has been signed. It is now time for the vision to become reality. The world\u2019s northernmost year-round ferry connection between Vaasa (Finland) and Ume\u00e5 (Sweden) will enable the continuation of the cross-border collaboration and the transport of passengers and freight between our countries, open up versatile transport networks from the ports to the wider world, and enable the creation of new collaboration forms in the Kvarken region.<\/p>\n<p>We have put a great deal of intensive and long-term work towards this goal together with the region\u2019s actors since 2011, when maritime traffic became the Kvarken Council\u2019s most important mission as a result of the bankruptcy of RG Line shipping company. In fact, the Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications of the time, Merja Kyll\u00f6nen, set up a working group on the following day to prepare a strategy to safeguard the Kvarken\u2019s maritime traffic. The strategy was completed in 2012, and it stated that ferry traffic between Vaasa and Ume\u00e5 as well as its development should be viewed as a part of a larger whole: the traffic infrastructure of the European Route E12. One important part of this was an environmentally friendly ferry that was tailored to meet the Kvarken region\u2019s needs and be able to navigate in ice conditions.<\/p>\n<p>A significant part of Kvarken traffic\u2019s development work has been carried out in the Kvarken Council\u2019s various projects, most notably in the project Midway Alignment of the Bothnian Corridor, which effectively put the Kvarken region on the map also in the European Union. Others worth mentioning include several projects funded by the EU\u2019s Interreg programme, e.g. MABA I and MABA II. All of these have pushed forward the development work outlined by the strategy. We have advanced at a good pace also in terms of the schedule, although we have met with successes and setbacks. I am proud. We have been able to achieve something great thanks to excellent cross-border teamwork between civil servants, politicians, entrepreneurs and the private and public sectors. Thank you all!<\/p>\n<p><strong>An Important Step Forward Towards Creation of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation EGTC <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As mentioned, the goals of the aforementioned strategy are already coming true, and the Kvarken Council has begun preparations for the next phase. Cooperation between the Ostrobothnian regions in Finland and V\u00e4sterbotten and \u00d6rnsk\u00f6ldsvik in Sweden has progressed so far that the current type of association has become too small. Because of this, the Kvarken Council\u2019s Board has tasked us with transforming the Kvarken Council\u2019s legal form from a registered association to an EGTC, a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. The Kvarken Council\u2019s annual meeting in May 2019 gave the board and the office of the Kvarken Council the permission to continue the work towards the Kvarken Council EGTC \u2013 First Nordic cross-border committee to make the change! The goal is that Kvarken Council EGTC may begin its activities 2020-01-01.<\/p>\n<p>An EGTC is designed to facilitate cross-border cooperation between EU Member States and their regional and local authorities. It would grant the long-term Kvarken region cooperation the status it deserves, a stronger position both at Nordic and European levels, visibility, better preconditions for cross-border cooperation, and improved funding opportunities. The aim is also to expand the Kvarken Council\u2019s activities by attracting the region\u2019s municipalities to join as members. I am convinced that we take a great leap forward into the future with the EGTC decision.<\/p>\n<p>The Kvarken ferry\u2019s realization will also allow us to focus on other issues concerning interest representation, for instance other modes of transport (flight connections, road and railway networks) and the further development of tourism via e.g. the Destination Kvarken project, which aims to improve the region\u2019s competitiveness. In addition, we have been invited to several Interreg Baltic Sea Region projects. The project called BSR ACCESS has already been launched. BSR ACCESS focuses on the distribution and further processing of results and reports from projects that are completed or nearing completion. This three-year \u201cproject platform\u201d enables a new type of effectiveness, where projects receive strategic visibility amongst the EU\u2019s decision-makers and interest groups. This is an acknowledgment of our important regional work that also brings added value to the rest of Europe. The time is also right, and the transitional period from the transport link\u2019s securement to new tasks has, thus far, been very successful.<\/p>\n<p>Forwards \u2013 together!<br \/>\nMathias Lindstr\u00f6m<br \/>\nDirector<br \/>\nVaasa, 25 January 2019 (Edited 2019-06-10)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are pleased to announce that regular maritime traffic over the Kvarken Strait between Finland and Sweden will continue in the future, the ferry\u2019s financing has been obtained, the plans are in order, and the construction agreement has been signed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"amnen":[99,89,90],"class_list":["post-8472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","amnen-egtc","amnen-greeting","amnen-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Director\u2019s greeting - Kvarkenr\u00e5det<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Director\u2019s greeting - Kvarkenr\u00e5det\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are pleased to announce that regular maritime traffic over the Kvarken Strait between Finland and Sweden will continue in the future, the ferry\u2019s financing has been obtained, the plans are in order, and the construction agreement has been signed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kvarkenr\u00e5det\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-25T09:34:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-11T23:03:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"723\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jokommunikation_agency\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jokommunikation_agency\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jokommunikation_agency\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0191caa861afff47bc50292a6905da2\"},\"headline\":\"Director\u2019s greeting\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-25T09:34:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-11T23:03:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":791,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Director\u2019s greeting - Kvarkenr\u00e5det\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-25T09:34:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-11T23:03:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0191caa861afff47bc50292a6905da2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg\",\"width\":483,\"height\":723},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/directors-greeting-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Hem\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Director\u2019s greeting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kvarkenr\u00e5det\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kvarken.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0191caa861afff47bc50292a6905da2\",\"name\":\"jokommunikation_agency\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/747179557db7fa831269f4829d55b0109a7684b8dd784a3f8f606bce8610f828?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/747179557db7fa831269f4829d55b0109a7684b8dd784a3f8f606bce8610f828?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/747179557db7fa831269f4829d55b0109a7684b8dd784a3f8f606bce8610f828?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jokommunikation_agency\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Director\u2019s greeting - Kvarkenr\u00e5det","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Director\u2019s greeting - Kvarkenr\u00e5det","og_description":"We are pleased to announce that regular maritime traffic over the Kvarken Strait between Finland and Sweden will continue in the future, the ferry\u2019s financing has been obtained, the plans are in order, and the construction agreement has been signed.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/","og_site_name":"Kvarkenr\u00e5det","article_published_time":"2019-01-25T09:34:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-11T23:03:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":483,"height":723,"url":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"jokommunikation_agency","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jokommunikation_agency","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/"},"author":{"name":"jokommunikation_agency","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c0191caa861afff47bc50292a6905da2"},"headline":"Director\u2019s greeting","datePublished":"2019-01-25T09:34:33+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-11T23:03:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/"},"wordCount":791,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/","name":"Director\u2019s greeting - Kvarkenr\u00e5det","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-25T09:34:33+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-11T23:03:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c0191caa861afff47bc50292a6905da2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/resizedimage483723-Kuva-Esa-Siltaloppi-DSC8323-2.jpg","width":483,"height":723},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/directors-greeting-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Hem","item":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Director\u2019s greeting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/","name":"Kvarkenr\u00e5det","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c0191caa861afff47bc50292a6905da2","name":"jokommunikation_agency","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747179557db7fa831269f4829d55b0109a7684b8dd784a3f8f606bce8610f828?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747179557db7fa831269f4829d55b0109a7684b8dd784a3f8f606bce8610f828?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747179557db7fa831269f4829d55b0109a7684b8dd784a3f8f606bce8610f828?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jokommunikation_agency"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8472"},{"taxonomy":"amnen","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kvarken.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/amnen?post=8472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}