Reijo Mauri Matias Pekkarinen (born 6 October 1947, in Kinnula, Finland) is a Finnish politician.

Pekkarinen first became interested in politics as a student at the University of Jyväskylä in the late 1960s and early 1970s, from where he graduated with a Master's in Social Studies in 1974.

In 1979 Pekkarinen was first elected to parliament in the Central Finland constituency, after which he was re-elected with an increased vote share in 1983, 1987, and 1991.

As new Minister of Trade and Industry, he stated his goal to "promote entrepreneurship and economic growth and thus contribute to diminishing unemployment, [and] to tackle large issues in the field of energy policy such as the carbon dioxide emissions trade between companies in the EU and the building a new nuclear power reactor in Finland",[3] and has also stated an interest in preserving good relations with France.

[6] During his tenure as Minister of Trade and Industry, Pekkarinen was portrayed in the Finnish political satire tv series The Autocrats in the early 2000s.