Many local authorities have formulated strategies to increase their international activities, to be implemented in co-operation with the region's businesses, educational establishments and the sub-region's local authorities.
Finnish local government is represented by a delegation in the EU's Committee of the Regions and in the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
Regions have international co-operative partners. Furthermore, regions are members in international organisations, such as the Assembly of European Regions (AER), the Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR), and the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), to name a few.