Petri Vuorio
Finland and China towards Closer Innovation Cooperation
Mr. Risto Siilasmaa (Chair, Nokia Corporation) is acting as Finland’s chairman of the Committee:
“The leading principles of the Innovation Committee are: business oriented, experimental and entrepreneurial – to have new ways to see and do things. The purpose of the Committee is not to make only speeches but to get things done. Four Working Groups of the Committee – Energy, Maritime Logistics, Forestry and Clean Air – are excellent examples of business sectors, where we can build mutually beneficial cooperation.”
As a result of the Committee meeting, following co-operation was initiated:
Energy
The Innovation Committee was set up as the initiative of Presidents Xi and Niinistö in the context of their Helsinki meeting in spring 2017. Energy solutions play a key role in promoting sustainable development, which is why energy was also chosen as the theme of the first working group set up within the Innovation Committee.
Cooperation within the working group will focus, among others, on flexible energy solutions, district heating and cooling, and clean energy such as waste-to-energy solutions and bioenergy. This year’s meeting of the energy working group also emphasized innovation cooperation, with the aim of jointly producing smart energy solutions. Business meetings have already led to several joint innovation projects and concrete deals.
Chair of the working group:
Jaakko Eskola, President & CEO, Wärtsilä Corporation
Haibo ZHEN, Director General of State Grid Corporation of China European
Maritime logistics
Land and sea transport are projected to nearly double globally by 2030. At the same time, China is investing heavily in logistics routes. The market transformation, together with China’s gigantic logistics projects, will bring significant new business opportunities for Finnish companies. The cooperation between Finnish and Chinese companies in the Innovation Committee’s working group focuses on e.g. Northeast Passage for maritime transport, icebreakers and arctic research vessels, smart port infrastructure, autonomous shipping and digitalization, as well as sustainable technology solutions. Regarding future cooperation, companies are planning to expand the scope of their activities to other forms of maritime value chain related logistics such as road, rail and ports logistics.
Chair of the working group:
Mikael Laine, Member of the Leadership Team, SVP Strategy, Cargotec Corporation
Jun SUN, President, COSCO Shipping (Europe) GmbH
Forest industry
Forestry Working Group focused on circular bio economy and the role of business in building a sustainable future.
The market for forest industry products is forecast to grow by over 2% yearly up to 2030, from 575 billion euros in 2017 to 770 billion euros in 2030. Growth is forecast e.g. in wooden construction materials, tissue paper, fiber packaging, pulp, fuels and chemicals.
Responding to the growing demand, Chinese and Finnish forest cluster companies enable sustainable consumer choices. The development and commercial production of new wood-based products and bio-based materials, such as textiles and plastic film replacements, will further reinforce this trend.
Chair of the working group:
Jussi Pesonen, President & CEO, UPM Corporation
Wang Yuhang, Vice President of China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd.
Clean air
Clean Air Working Group concentrates on improving the outdoor and indoor air quality. The topic is vital as merely 10% of the population of the world live currently in clean air conditions.
The objective of the working group is to implement advanced technical solutions that can drastically lower the emission levels in production industry, reach great savings in the different production processes as well as improve air quality monitoring and indoor air quality.
With regard to clean outdoor air, the target of the working group is to utilize industrial scale off-gas treatment technology which fulfills current and future emission legislation. In addition, companies focus on bringing innovative indoor air solutions that will create healthier and safer indoor air quality e.g. in hospitals.
Chair of the working group:
Markku Teräsvasara, President & CEO, Outotec Corporation
Mintal Group
The event was hosted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) together with Business Finland and China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products CCCME. The Committee’s work is supported by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China MOFCOM and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland.
More info on the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation
Additional Information from the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK:
Mr. Petri Vuorio, Director, Trade Policy, tel. +358 50 323 2979 (petri.vuorio@ek.fi)
Finnish Industries: Kaisa Soro-Pesonen appointed Head of Brussels Office
Kaisa Soro-Pesonen, Master of Political Sciences, has been appointed Head of the Brussels Office of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) as of 11 January 2021.
Kaisa Soro-Pesonen has a 16-year career in Brussels. She is joining the Confederation of Finnish Industries from the Cabinet of Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Partnerships at the European Commission
Prior to this, she served for a long time in two EU Public Affairs agencies in Brussels – Kreab and Miltton – as a partner and Managing Director.
Soro-Pesonen specialises in political advocacy and strategic EU communication of Nordic companies in particular. She has extensive experience in EU policies on transport and infrastructure, energy and forestry and consumer goods in the single market.
“Europe is at a juncture where joint solutions are needed for major global challenges. Rapidly changing geopolitical situation, climate change and digitalisation require close cooperation between the business community and the political decision-making mechanism. The Finnish business community has plenty to offer in this context,” says Soro-Pesonen.
“It’s great to welcome a versatile and experienced EU professional of Kaisa Soro-Pesonen’s calibre to the Confederation of Finnish Industries team. Her knowledge and networks are most valuable,” says Jyri Häkämies, Director General of the Confederation of Finnish Industries.
Soro-Pesonen will report to Petri Vuorio, who acts as Director, responsible for business policy, entrepreneurship and EU affairs at the Confederation of Finnish Industries as of 1 January 2021. Vuorio served as Head of the Brussels Office and EU Affairs until the end of 2020.
Report: Finnish companies must stay alert due to the rivalry between China and the United States
The growing battle for economic and technological leadership between the US and China has adverse effects also on Finnish companies. In a recent report, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK recommend that both Finland and the EU prepare more carefully for possible harmful effects.
This was the first time that the influence of the rivalry between the great powers on Finnish companies was studied. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and EK conducted their joint project together with 60 specialists and 30 companies.
The competition between these countries that are important partners for the Finnish economy inevitably affects Finnish companies. Due to the battle for power, Finnish companies may encounter difficulties in the cooperation with both countries. At its worst, this could mean economic and technological decoupling between the US and Chinese markets. An extreme example could be Finnish companies facing a choice between the two markets. Due to the restrictions and risks caused by the intensifying great power rivalry, some Finnish companies have already had to make changes in their supply chains.
The report presents key examples of the various forms of battle for power between China and the United States, which may have repercussions on Finnish companies’ operations. These include sanctions, export control of dual-use items, which involves products that can be used for both civilian and military purposes, funding, standardisation, and restrictions on market access.
It is important that Finnish companies recognise how these matters and the risks related to them show in such global value chains as subcontracting, relations with clients, product development, and funding.
Competition for a leading position in technology shows especially in sectors that are central from the point of view of the great powers’ national security. In Finland, the most serious impacts would be felt in the technology sector, where we have much expertise, many companies and much export. In an extreme example of such impacts, the other great power could deny market access for a Finnish company’s product that includes technology or other elements originating in the other great power.
“Companies and the public sector must take the impacts of the rivalry between the great powers into consideration. It is important to raise awareness of the rivalry between the great powers especially among small and medium-sized enterprises,” says the project’s leader, Pia Sarivaara from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In autumn, events will be organised for companies and public sector representatives on the impacts of the great power rivalry on Finnish companies.
“Both powers will offer significant opportunities for cooperation and potential commercial contacts also in future. However, possible growing rivalry between the great powers should be taken into account in the cooperation,” says Petri Vuorio, Director at EK.
The report ”China and the United States – a challenge to companies; Impact of China–US rivalry on Finnish companies” is part of the work done by Team Finland to support companies’ international business operations.
Finland’s SME Sustainability Barometer: Employees are the most important aspect of sustainability for SME employers
Over 80 per cent of Finnish small and medium-sized employer enterprises highlight employee wellbeing, occupational safety and competence development as a priority in their sustainability work. In addition to climate impacts, SMEs emphasise biodiversity and other environmental protection. These findings are drawn from Finland’s first SME sustainability barometer. The barometer was conducted by Aula Research and commissioned by the Confederation of Finnish Industries, EK.
Nine out of ten SME employers feel that sustainability is an essential issue from the perspective of their business. Company values and customer demands are mentioned most frequently as motives for promoting sustainability.
According to the barometer, employer image is one of the key benefits obtained through sustainability. This is how corporate responsibility also contributes to solving one the largest bottlenecks for SMEs, labour shortage.
Companies would like to do even more – two out of three SMEs mention limited resources as the biggest challenge in their sustainability work. According to Elina Sonninen, Corporate Responsibility Specialist at EK, companies need support especially for developing sustainability indicators, data collection and reporting:
“SMEs are highly motivated in advancing corporate responsibility. This aspiration should be supported in all ways possible, for example, by sharing good practices and creating tools and guidelines. The open feedback provided in the barometer also shows there is a huge need for this type of support.”
According to Petri Vuorio, Director, Entrepreneurship and Business Environment at EK, the Confederation of Finnish Industries wants to help the SME sector realise that companies’ sustainability is, in an increasingly tangible way, becoming an evaluation criterion also for financiers and investors:
“The EU is preparing a number of binding regulations for the finance sector regarding sustainability reporting that will require financiers to assess the climate impacts of financial instruments and, presumably, other aspects of corporate responsibility in the future. In the future, this will most likely be reflected in the cost and availability of financing for SMEs, with more sustainable companies doing better in both areas than others. In the future, SMEs should also be prepared to present financiers with a sustainability report and their carbon footprint alongside their traditional financial statements.”
Key results in figures:
- 92 per cent of SME sector employers consider sustainability to be a very or fairly important factor from the perspective of their business. This perception was uniform regardless of the company size or the business sector. In practice, everyone felt that sustainability would become even more important in the future.
- 81 per cent highlighted employee wellbeing, occupational safety and competence development as the most important aspects of sustainability. Environmental responsibility also scored highly (climate change: 38%, biodiversity and other environmental protection: 27%).
- The key motives for sustainability were company values (55%), customer demands (43%), brand building (29%) and the societal climate (26%).
- Only 1 per cent of companies felt that access to financing would be an important reason to focus on sustainability at the moment. 31 per cent estimated that sustainability would create benefits in the future from the perspective of access to financing.
- Focusing on corporate responsibility is expected to create benefits in the future, especially in terms of good reputation (87%), customer satisfaction (80%) and employer image (73%).
- SMEs limited resources were seen as the main challenge (68%) in their sustainability work. Companies need help especially in developing sustainability indicators (54%), carbon footprint calculation (42%) and corporate responsibility reporting (34%).
- 44 per cent of the SME employers have set sustainability objectives. Of these, 91 per cent also monitor their implementation.
The barometer was carried out by Aula Research and commissioned by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK. The barometer’s target group consisted of Finnish employers in the SME sector employing between 10 and 250 people. A total of 504 corporate decision-makers, representing the various sectors, personnel size classes and geographical areas in a representative way, responded to the barometer between 27 September and 28 October 2021.
Webinar recording: Finnish perspective to sanctions against Russia
The Confederation of Finnish Industries EK organized on March 7th a webinar on the economic consequences of the Ukraine invasion and sanctions against Russia. The webinar recording is now available.
The webinar was organized by EK’s International Business Club (IBC)
www.ek.fi/Ukraina
BusinessEurope SME Roadshow kicked off in Helsinki
The BusinessEurope SME Roadshow kicked off February 8 in Helsinki. Finland is the first stop in a series of events across the EU to highlight the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in getting out of the crisis mode in Europe. The event was organised by BusinessEurope together with its member federation, the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK.
The idea of SME Roadshows in European capital cities was developed in 2023. The aim is to mobilise national ecosystems, European institutions, SME Envoys, CEOs, entrepreneurs, business associations, trade unions and NGOs from across Europe, to find constructive solutions on how better to support small and medium-sized enterprises. In discussion rounds with representatives from business, politics and civil organisations as well as during company visits, participants get first-hand insights into the current situation of SMEs.
On the first roadshow, which attracted over 200 participants, Fabrice Le Saché, Chair of BusinessEurope’s Entrepreneurship & SME Committee, commented:
“SMEs are currently up to their necks. Companies need regulatory breathing space to survive today’s multiple crises. Our top priority is to have the SME Test thoroughly applied across all new EU initiatives. Avoiding unnecessary or disproportionate burdens is key to ensure an SME-proofed regulatory regime. It is therefore all the more valuable to have the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, join our first roadshow.”
The focus of discussion rounds and company visits was threefold: the impact of sustainability regulation on SMEs, the difficulty in accessing finance, and the challenges and opportunities of cybersecurity.
Petri Vuorio, Vice-Chair of BusinessEurope’s Entrepreneurship & SME Committee, and Director for Entrepreneurship, Business Policy and EU Affairs at the Confederation of Finnish Industries, added:
“We are proud to host the first BusinessEurope SME Roadshow in Helsinki. This event is a unique opportunity to gather key representatives from across Europe to discuss both challenges and opportunities of SME scaling-up in the EU, particularly with regards to the sustainability transition. In the current tense situation, it is crucial to have a reality check with entrepreneurs and find ways for politics and business to work together to strengthen competitiveness.”
The next stop of BusinessEurope SME Roadshow will be Rome, Italy.
You can find the joint SME Test benchmark report by BusinessEurope, Eurochambres and SMEunited here.
Finland’s SME Sustainability Barometer 2023: Sustainability increasingly important for competitiveness of export and growth companies
The importance of sustainability is already widely recognised in the Finnish SME sector. However, only half of SMEs (companies with 10–250 employees), have set sustainability targets. According to the SME Sustainability Barometer commissioned by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), the larger, more growth-oriented and export-driven a company is, the further along it is in the development of its sustainability work.
The SME Sustainability Barometer examines the views of companies with 10–250 employees, covering 455 responses from SME corporate decision-makers. The previous barometer, which was also conducted by Aula Research, was carried out two years ago.
Almost 90 per cent of the SMEs that participated in the survey feel that sustainability plays an important role in their business operations. The primary motives for advancing sustainability are the organisation’s values and customers’ expectations.
The companies consider their own employees as the most important aspect of sustainability work, covering areas such as personnel wellbeing, occupational safety and competence development. Climate and environmental measures are almost as important.
As a whole, the results have remained unchanged compared to the SME Sustainability Barometer conducted two years ago, according to Elina Sonninen, Corporate Responsibility Specialist at EK:
“However, there has been progress in the setting of sustainability targets. Also, a slightly higher number of respondents now recognise the benefits of corporate responsibility regarding access to financing. The larger, more growth-oriented and export-driven a company is, the further along it is in the development of its sustainability work.”
According to Petri Vuorio, Director of Entrepreneurship and Business Environment at EK, the business impact of sustainability has not yet materialised in the everyday life of SMEs:
“Ongoing regulatory projects will mean, however, that the cost of financing and access to supply chains will increasingly depend on the SME’s sustainability profile. Sustainability can, and should, therefore be used to build competitive advantage, and in the future it may even turn into a prerequisite for the operations of many SMEs. Companies should start preparing for this now.”
Key results in figures:
- 89 per cent of SME sector employers consider sustainability to be a very or fairly important factor from the perspective of their business. This perception was uniform regardless of the company size or the business sector. In practice, everyone felt that sustainability would have an even greater role in the future.
- 79 per cent highlighted personnel wellbeing, occupational safety and competence development as the most important aspects of sustainability. Environmental responsibility was also important (climate change: 43%, biodiversity and other environmental protection: 25%).
- The key motives for sustainability were company values (61%), customer demands (42%), brand building (24%), and societal atmosphere and public debate (24%).
- Financial impacts such as cost savings, success in competitive tendering and access to financing were seen as the least important reasons to focus on sustainability.
- Focusing on corporate responsibility is expected to create benefits in the future, especially in terms of good reputation (84%), customer satisfaction (77%) and employer image (75%).
- SMEs’ limited resources were seen as the main challenge (69%) in their sustainability work. Companies need the most help in developing sustainability indicators (50%), creating sustainability strategies (38%) and sustainability reporting (37%).
- 51 per cent of the SME employers have set sustainability targets. Of these, 93 per cent also monitor their implementation.
- SMEs also work together with various stakeholders to promote sustainability. They engage in cooperation especially with other companies (55%), business and industry associations (45%) and education and training providers (36%).