Prime Minister Katainen's greetings to the Team Finland network

Team Finland partners,

I am writing these greetings on an aircraft travelling from Santiago to Paris. We are on our way home with the Finnish team after a highly successful visit to Chile. Team Finland had a fine line-up in Chile: in addition to ministry personnel, around thirty representatives of Finnish companies were also involved. Finpro once again surpassed themselves and put together a very busy and really effective programme.

We and the business delegation met the President of Chile and the country’s Ministers of Mining, Energy, Finance and Defence. The programme also included seminars with Chilean business leaders and government authorities, the purpose of which was to hear about the opportunities in different sectors, to showcase the expertise of Finnish companies and particularly to network with the right contacts. In accordance with their wishes, companies also had opportunities to attend their own meetings.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine. As you can see from the enclosed photo, I felt great pride at a depth of a kilometre underground, because a significant part of the equipment and machinery in these extreme conditions had been manufactured in Finland.

During the visit, we made it clear that cleantech is Finland’s strength. It encompasses mining technology, renewable energy – for example, unique wave energy expertise – vocational education, research and much more besides. Various ICT applications and health care technologies were also highlighted.

Chile is an excellent market for us. It is a well-ordered civil society, with strong public finances and a strong will to develop through innovations. Our universities, UASs and vocational colleges have been gratifyingly active with respect to practical cooperation.

Team Finland activity will take off in earnest this year, and I am firmly convinced that our team will prosper in its work. The bass player of a certain world-famous Finnish rock band stated, when we met backstage at an international concert arena after a brilliant performance by the band, that for Finns national defence is a joint effort, but the tasks vary.

This piece of wisdom also applies to Team Finland. Building Finland’s success is also a joint effort and everyone has their own role. I am proud to be involved in supporting the world-class expertise of Finnish companies and in opening up wherever possible official doors to promote investment.

Welcome to Team Finland! We are eagerly looking forward to your ideas on how we could improve our cooperation to ensure that Finnish companies’ trade and investments develop favourably.

Jyrki Katainen