Ms Anu Vehviläinen, MP, has been appointed Minister of Transport. The President of Finland announced the appointment on Thursday, 19 April.
At the Ministry of Transport and Communications Ms Vehviläinen will be responsible for matters other than those relating to the Ministry's Communications Department and Preparedness Unit.
Ms Vehviläinen, 43, holds a Master of Arts degree and is doing postgraduate studies in social sciences at the University of Joensuu. She was a member of Parliament from 1995 to 2003, and was re-elected from the Pohjois-Karjala (North Carelia) constituency.
She has been the 1st vice chair of the Centre Party Parliamentary Group and a member of Parliament's Administrative Committee, Education and Culture Committee, Finance Committee, and Environment Committee.
From 1991 to 1993 Ms Vehviläinen acted as Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and in 1993 as Information Officer of the presidential election campaign of Mr Paavo Väyrynen. In 2003-2005 she worked as the Executive Director of the North Carelia district organisation of the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare.
Ms Vehviläinen lives in Joensuu, in eastern Finland, where she is a member of the City Council since 1993 and the 2nd vice chair of the City Board since 2005.
She has held several positions of trust in municipal, regional and national bodies. She was a member of the supervisory board of the VR-Group in 1995-2000, a member of the supervisory board of the Finland Post Corporation in 2004-2006 and a member of the Press Subsidies Committee in 2006.
She is married and has one child. Her interests include literature and writing.
