Contents - WTC Turku

2 / 2014
New Stars of Turku
Ismo Kallio
Ressu Redford
Robin
Pepe Willberg, 1999 Star
Awardee attended this year’s
celebration also.
New shining Stars in front
of WTC
p. 4
’China has relaxed its
currency regulations,
you can pay your
Chinese supplier
directly in yuan’, says
Riku Louho, Head of
Cash Management at
Danske Bank’s Western
Finland Finance Center.
p. 6
’Customs’ online
services do not require
any special software
or technical expertise’,
assures Chief Customs
Inspector Kirsi Azaize.
p. 8
Contents
What about Team Finland? 2
Towards a more three-dimensional future 2
Meriaura Group pioneers green energy 3
Three new Stars of Turku shining brightly 4
Small company – big world 5
China relaxed its currency regulations 6
Expertise of local businesses under one roof 7
Passenger ferry powered by liquefied natural gas 7
Handling customs formalities competently 8
Successful outsourcing 9
Marketing Communication is important 10
Suomen Joutsen, promoter of Finnish Export around the world 11
Future vision of Tianjin 12
2
WTC TURKU
WHAT ABOUT TEAM FINLAND?
I
n September 2012 over 1,500
people from various organizations
and companies were gathered at
Finlandia Hall, led by then ministers
– Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen,
Minister of Economic Affairs Jyri
Häkämies and Minister for European
Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander
Stubb. The purpose of the gathering
was to discuss ways for Finland to
succeed amidst ever-increasing global
competition and to launch the Team
Finland project to secure the future of
Finnish export industries. The event was
opened by President of the Republic
Sauli Niinistö. His message was clear:
our export promotion system has to be
overhauled and overlapping activities
reduced.
The Prime Minister’s Office founded
its own Team Finland unit, whose
task was to create and implement a
strategy for the project. Team Finland’s
government-funded internationalization
services fall into six categories: Advice,
Networks,
Visibility,
Financing,
Public Affairs and Opportunities. The
most tangible change so far has been
Finpro’s reorganization, which has
clarified the boundary between public
export promotion and paid consulting
services. It is essential to ensure that
regional actors have sufficient resources
to provide high-quality services to
companies contacting the Team Finland
network for the first time and that the
network’s joint customer relationship
management system will be operational
by the end of 2015 as planned.
”
internationalization program whose
operating model was adopted as a
guideline for the Finland Chamber of
Commerce’s Team Finland strategy
and forwarded to regional chambers
and the government. Even then export
promoters in Southwest Finland were
getting together unofficially from time
to time to cooperate, to coordinate their
activities and reduce overlap.
Some have criticized the large number
of organizations producing services and
promoting internationalization within
the Team Finland network. Are there
too many of them? Certainly not. The
European economy is slowly recovering,
but Finland is lagging behind. The
country needs the contribution of every
single actor, as long as we make sure that
they have the deep expertise required in
each industry and market.
’Team Finland must be carried
out effectively and activated
quickly’, President Sauli Niinistö
The Centre for Economic Development
(ELY) in Southwest Finland has
paved the way for the project. As
early as 2005, they piloted a regional
Mirja Kärkäs-Lainio
Editor-in-chief
Director
WTC Turku
Towards a more three-dimensional
future
T
he term 3D printing does not refer
to a single technology: there are
several different technologies
with their own strengths and weaknesses,
Dan Björklöf, CEO of Alphaform Oy
informed the audience at a WTC Turku
seminar. Most objects produced by 3D
printers can also be manufactured by more
traditional means, but 3D printing has
certain advantages, especially its speed.
In fact, 3D printing technologies were
originally developed to bring products to
market more quickly.
Alphaform - European leader in 3D
printing
Alphaform currently uses about 10
different technologies and hundreds of
different materials. They were one of the
first companies in Europe to make use of
3D printing and rapid prototyping about
20 years ago – long before everyone
started talking about the potential of these
technologies. In addition to Finland, the
company operates in Germany, England
and Sweden. Their top clients include
the automobile and Formula 1 industries,
ICT companies and medical technology
manufacturers. In the Turku region,
Alphaform does a lot of business with
the local pharmaceutical industry and the
maritime cluster.
Will 3D printing make factories
obsolete?
Björklöf thinks that the media hype
surrounding 3D printing may have created
some inflated expectations and that it will
take a few years to get a more realistic
idea of what is ultimately feasible and
profitable. Especially the notion that
cheap 3D printers will revolutionize
the production of consumer goods as
people will be able to print out household
Dan Björklöf, CEO of Alphaform Oy explains
that 3D printing beats traditional methods
when wanting to produce a small number of
things very quickly.
products at home seems rather far-fetched
when you consider the relatively high cost
and low quality of these do-it-yourself
products, Björklöf points out. However, if
technologies keep improving and materials
become more durable and affordable, largescale production of goods by 3D printing
may eventually be profitable.
3
WTC TURKU
Meriaura Group pioneers green energy and
logistics solutions
On the traditional WTC cruise on steamship Ukkopekka, Jussi Mälkiä, CEO of Meriaura
Group, spoke in favor of green energy policies and explained how to turn them into business
opportunities.
ince its founding in 1986, explains
Jussi Mälkiä, CEO of Meriaura
Group, the local shipping
company has grown almost from scratch
to a medium-sized enterprise and now
accounts for about 2% of all import
and export transportation in the Baltic
sea region. The company’s turnover is
around €50 million. Meriaura’s services
include the shipping of industrial
products and raw materials and various
kinds of project transportations. The
company carries 2 million tons of freight
per year.
S
Energy-efficient vessels running
on biofuel
Meriaura is in the process of acquiring two
new dry cargo ships that will cost close
to €20 million in all. These EcoCoaster
vessels will be environmentally friendly
and energy-efficient. The company plans
to launch the ships in 2015. Their energy
consumption will be 40 to 60% lower
than usual, as they will be powered by
EcoFuel. The vessels may later be fitted
with fuel cells, whose development
has slowed down a bit recently. The
EcoCoasters are meant to replace dry
cargo ships that the company is currently
renting.
Meriaura’s fleet consists of 12 dry
cargo ships and three special purpose
vessels. One of the latter is M/S Meri,
which is the first vessel in the world
running on biofuel manufactured from
fish waste. Using such biofuels will be
more profitable as of
January 2015, when
the EU’s sulphur
directive takes effect.
At the moment, biofuel
can not compete with
traditional fuel oil but
can replace diesel fuel,
Mälkiä says.
WTC Turku Chairman
Jari Lähteenmäki
together with Marjukka
Karttunen (left), Paula
Virri and Marita Anstead.
4
WTC TURKU
Three new Stars of Turku shining brightly
Minna Arve, then Chair of the City Board, congratulated the stars on behalf of the city of Turku
and thanked them for their contributions. On the right, WTC Turku Chairman Jari Lähteenmäki
with Tatu Virta, Chairman of JCI Aurajoki.
T
he winners of the Star of Turku
2014 awards were revealed on
September 8 in Veistämönaukio
square. Three stars were added to our
very own Walk of Fame. This year’s
honorees were actor Ismo Kallio, musician
Ressu Redford and pop star Robin.
The public was able to participate by
casting their vote online, but the final
decision was left to a jury made up of the
organizers of the awards. Members of the
jury included the city’s Communication
Director Antti Kirkkola, Chairman Tatu
Virta and Project Leader Kim Björk from
Ressu Redford rushed in from the recording
studio to receive the award.
– It is wonderful to be recognized along with
these high achievers. Here in Turku, we like to
do everything as well as possible, in our own
special way. We promote our home town by
doing things in style, Ressu Redford muses.
Aurajoki Junior Chamber of Commerce,
Director of World Trade Center Turku
Mirja Kärkäs-Lainio and Producer
Marianne Holmström from Radio City
Turku.
The Star of Turku awards celebrate
individuals or groups that have made the
city of Turku known through outstanding
achievements in the arts, entertainment
or sports. The stars are awarded every
three years and metal plaques bearing
the names of the honorees are placed
in Veistämönaukio square in front of
World Trade Center Turku. Multi-platinum selling pop star Robin is the
youngest ever Star of Turku.
– It feels awesome! I didn’t hear about this
recognition until yesterday, since my parents
and my manager kept it a secret. Now I’m on
the Walk of Fame in incredible company, even
Michael Monroe is there, Robin enthuses.
The beloved veteran actor Ismo Kallio was
delighted to be honored.
– Turku is where I was born, went to school
and where I come back every summer, says
Kallio, who has often performed in musicals at
Samppalinna summer theater in Turku. WTC
Turku Director Mirja Kärkäs-Lainio was
happy to sit next to Kallio.
5
WTC TURKU
Your company is not too small to
succeed in the big world
-Real learning comes
from mistakes, failure
is necessary, says
William H. Frost,
author of Small
Company. Big World
encouragingly. SMEs
should not be afraid
to venture abroad,
especially since they
can always consult
those with more
experience and learn
from their mistakes.
I
nternationalization is not rocket
science – anybody can do it, assures
William H. Frost, founder, owner
and CEO of Paris-based consultancy
SAI (Strategy Analysis International).
Over the course of more than three
decades, Mr. Frost has helped over 500
SMEs to take their business abroad,
many of them from Finland and
Scandinavia. The lessons he learned are
summed up in a recently published book
called Small Company. Big World. and
were discussed in a presentation Frost
gave at WTC Turku.
– We have ourselves internationalized
and have made most mistakes in the
book, Frost says.
Why should you go abroad?
According to Mr. Frost, it is important
to take your business abroad because
that is where the growth is: if you stay
at home, you’ll grow a little, but if
you become international, you’ll grow
twice as fast. It is also where your
future customers are; if you choose not
to internationalize, you will soon have
to deal with international competitors
at home anyway. Another reason is
because your government wants you to
– most people in Finland work for SMEs
rather than big corporations, so the
government is keen on supporting your
internationalization efforts in the hopes
of creating new jobs. However, the best
reason of all is because you yourself
believe in your potential and want to
pursue new opportunities abroad, Frost
adds.
Focus on your customers
– It is not the market that buys your
product, it’s people, Mr. Frost stresses.
First of all, you must find out whether
there are any potential buyers in your
target market. You must also know who
you are competing against and what you
can offer your customers that others can
not. Your unique selling points should
be prominently displayed on your
website and emphasized in all marketing
and communications with prospective
partners. Most crucially, Frost points
out, you have to understand how your
foreign buyer makes money and explain
them how working with you will boost
their business. In other words, you will
need to learn how to co-produce services
with your customer.
– Finns sit in the woods and invent
things. I’ve never understood how they
do this. Things are easier to sell if you
know who you’re developing them for,
Frost says, tongue in cheek.
6
WTC TURKU
Doing business in China?
- Consider using documentary credits and local currency
C
hina is Finland’s top trading
partner in Asia. It was our fourth
biggest source of imports in
2013 and has also become a popular
export destination. Yet China is still seen
as an exotic country that raises questions
about the reliability of local partners,
the terms and conditions of business
agreements and the right choice of
payment methods.
Protecting your company from
risks in international trade
Doing business in a faraway country,
in an unfamiliar business environment
and often with new partners can be
risky when it comes to payments and
financing, says Aija Sundgrén, Senior
Manager from Danske Bank’s Trade
Finance. Problems in foreign trade
may arise from unreliable partners,
missing or incorrect documents,
unknown foreign banks, unexpected
political developments and fluctuations
in currency or interest rates. Each
company must decide for itself which
risks it is willing to live with and
which risks it wants to hedge against.
The best way for exporters to protect
themselves from risks related to the
buyer, the buyer’s country and foreign
banks is to use a confirmed documentary
credit. Importers can likewise rely on
documentary credit or documentary
collection.
Trading in Chinese yuan
European and American companies
have traditionally used the dollar or euro
when trading with the Chinese. Head
of Cash Management Riku Louho
from Danske Bank’s Western Finland
Finance Center explained that these
foreign currencies pose a risk for your
Chinese partner, if they normally use
their local currency. However, as China
has relaxed its currency regulations,
a Finnish importer, for example, can
now pay their Chinese supplier directly
in yuan. Since this is often easier and
safer for the Chinese company, the
Finnish buyer might get a discount. It
may also be possible to find a partner
who would not otherwise be interested
in foreign trade. It is therefore worth
your while to look into using the
local currency while negotiating an
agreement. To minimize currency risks,
Finnish companies trading in yuan can
use currency forwards or options.
Aija Sundgrén, Senior Manager at Trade
Finance Danske Bank Oyj.
Riku Louho, Head of Cash Management at
Western Finland Finance Center, Danske
Bank Oyj.
Jari Soukola, Local Head of Business Banking
in Western Finland at Danske Bank Oyj
(right) and Jyri Inki, then Financial Director,
Auramarine Oy.
7
WTC TURKU
Showcasing the expertise of local businesses
under one roof
S
outhwest Finland is home to
companies operating in a wide
range of industries but lacks
premises where the achievements and
the potential of these companies could
be showcased under one roof. Small
and medium-sized businesses play a
particularly important role in the regional
economy and new ones are cropping up
all the time, says Niko Kyynäräinen,
Director of Turku Region Development
Centre. It is especially advantageous
for these small players to pool their
resources and build a network to market
their products and services together.
Local businesses and the public sector
are working on a virtual visitor center,
which is to be accompanied by real-world
facilities later on, Mr. Kyynäräinen says.
Some larger companies have also agreed
to take part, which raises the public
profile of the project and helps with the
funding, he explains.
According to Hele Kaunismäki, Project
Manager at Turku Region Development
Centre, a visitor center is a marketing
tool similar to company visits. It can
help introduce potential customers,
employees and other interested parties
to your products and know-how and
persuade them to co-operate with you.
Sharing the facilities and costs with
dozens of other local businesses makes
it possible even for small companies
to offer visitors a truly impressive and
memorable experience, Ms. Kaunismäki
notes. The virtual visitor center will
include facts about local companies,
their products and their history as well
as information on services that users of
the site may require when they decide
to visit the region in real life. The
virtual center will eventually include
interactive elements and be available
in English as well as Finnish, says
Kaunismäki.
Local businesses and the public sector are
working on a virtual visitor center, which is to
be accompanied by real-world facilities later
on, Mr. Kyynäräinen says.
M/S Viking Grace – the first passenger ferry in the
world powered by liquefied natural gas
W
hen our new ship M/S Viking
Grace was being planned,
the goal was to entice new
customers who would not normally
set foot on a cruise ferry, Project Coordinator Johanna Molin told WTC
club members. The interior of the ferry
was designed by dSign Vertti Kivi &
co, who had no previous experience of
passenger ferries and set out to create
a completely original environment that
would delight even the most discerning
travellers,
Ms.
Molin
explains.
Companies who would like to treat their
employees to an enjoyable meeting at
sea can make use of M/S Viking Grace’s
elegantly designed conference facilities
equipped with the latest technology.
Between meetings, passengers can take
spa with a sea view or rest in
their cabins, furnished with
luxury beds that guarantee a
good night’s sleep.
The aim of Viking Grace was to attract 1
million passengers within the first year, but
it only took 8 months to reach that milestone,
says Johanna Molin.
advantage of the wide selection and
affordable prices of the largest floating
duty-free shop in the world, relax in a
Johanna
Ekbom,
Sales
Promotor at Viking Line Abp,
told the audience more about
organizing different kinds of
meetings and conferences on
board M/S Viking Grace, M/S
Amorella and in Åland. Whether
you prefer a one-day minicruise or
spending the night on a private island is
up to you. Ms. Ekbom assures that the
staff will be happy to entertain you for
example by arranging a wine-tasting
or a dance course, according to your
group’s wishes.
8
WTC TURKU
Handling customs formalities competently
online restrictions manual. The most
convenient and efficient way to lodge
customs declarations is to use the
Customs’ online services, Azaize says.
These web services do not require any
special software or technical expertise.
If your company needs the Customs’
services on a regular basis, you can
apply for authorization to contact them
through message exchange, which
allows you to handle all communications
within your own computer system.
Placing goods under a customs
procedure
- Don’t break the law, all the necessary
information can be found in the EU’s Custom
Codex, which is available on the web, says
Kirsi Azaize, Chief Customs Inspector at the
Finnish Customs.
T
hose members of your staff who
deal with Customs procedures
must know what they are doing
– ignorance is no excuse if you end
up breaking the law, Chief Customs
Inspector Kirsi Azaize stressed at a
WTC seminar. Fortunately, all the
necessary information can be found
in the EU’s Custom Codex, which is
available on the EUR-Lex website.
Customs declarations
When you plan to import goods from
outside the customs territory of the
EU, you must lodge an entry summary
declaration before the goods arrive at
the border. On arrival, you must submit
a customs declaration to determine
which customs procedure the goods
will be placed under. Before submitting
a customs declaration, you must find
out the right commodity code, check if
any import prohibitions or restrictions
apply and acquire any required import
permits beforehand. Ms. Azaize advises
looking up restrictions on different
types of goods in Finnish Customs’
The most common customs procedure
is release for free circulation. Goods
can also be placed under a customs
procedure with economic impact
(customs
warehousing,
inward
processing, processing under customs
control or temporary admission), reexported from the EU or released for
transit. Choosing a customs procedure
may be postponed while the goods are
stored temporarily. Customs duties and
value added tax are levied on most
imports from outside the EU. If you
want to return goods to the sender to
be exchanged or repaired, Kirsi Azaize
reminds you must notify the Customs
in advance so you can avoid paying the
applicable charges twice.
Export declarations
When you sell goods to buyers outside
the EU, an export declaration must be
lodged, though no duties or VAT are
levied on exports. These declarations
are always submitted electronically.
While trading within the EU, you have
to notify Customs for statistics purposes
if the value of your sales exceeds the
stipulated limit per calendar year. In
2014, this limit was €500,000.
9
WTC TURKU
Successful outsourcing –
Define your needs and choose the right measuring tools
P
artner Ilkka Töyrylä from
Midagon Oy and CEO Riitta
Lehikoinen from Winway Oy
spent an afternoon at WTC Turku to
share their experiences and to offer
tips on avoiding the worst pitfalls of
outsourcing.
Assessing your needs and
managing risks
Ms. Lehikoinen observes that companies
are often dissatisfied with the results of
outsourcing, even though things seemed
to be running so smoothly while they
were still at the negotiating table. She
says this might happen especially when
the preliminary stages of outsourcing
– defining the company’s strategy
and the operations to be outsourced –
are neglected while rushing to select
service providers. Before outsourcing,
a company should therefore take a good
look at their operations, consider their
core competencies and assess the risks
associated with outsourcing particular
business processes. In addition, Töyrylä
notes that you should decide in advance
how performance will be monitored and
Outsourcing can reduce costs and improve quality, but it depends on the buyer’s competence
whether either of these goals are in fact achieved, says Ilkka Töyrylä, Partner at Midagon Oy.
Last year Mr. Töyrylä published an outsourcing handbook with Riitta Lehikoinen, CEO of
Winway Oy.
what kind of penalties will be imposed
if the quality of services falls short of
your requirements. Choosing the right
instruments for measuring quality is very
important to guarantee reliable results,
Töyrylä stresses. Some things such as
the friendliness and local knowledge
of customer service representatives are
particularly hard to measure, he adds.
Selecting service providers
Ms. Lehikoinen recommends that you
negotiate with at least two potential
providers, or else your partner will
have little incentive to offer you a
good deal. It is also in the long-term
interest of providers, she believes, that
they are forced to improve the quality
of their services due to competition.
Lehikoinen emphasizes that you must
have the courage to decline proposals
that fail to meet your standards – even
if you feel that your time and effort will
otherwise have been wasted – since
accepting a poor proposal will lead to
poor services, which should be avoided
at every turn. Before signing a contract,
you should make sure that you have a
reasonably easy way of terminating it if
the partnership fails your expectations,
the two experts advise.
Outsourcing is a normal part of
doing business
One of the attendees wondered why the
term outsourcing has such a bad ring to
it, though the idea is to improve quality
and efficiency. Lehikoinen agrees
that outsourcing is often perceived as
a negative development, but points
out that it essentially amounts to the
same thing as a new company buying
a service that it never produced itself
from another company. Stories with a
happy ending where everyone including
outsourced employees are satisfied with
the results are rarely portrayed in the
media, she adds.
10
WTC TURKU
Grow your Business with the efficient
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
M
arketing communications are
an important part of marketing
and an indispensable tool for
setting a company and its products apart
from the competition. Their purpose is
to create and maintain a relationship
between you and your customers. Since
marketing communications take a lot
of time and money, they should be
planned carefully, says Communications
Entrepreneur
Merja
Heponiemi,
founder of Tenho Oy. Ms. Heponiemi
told attendees at a WTC Turku seminar
that planning should begin with an
analysis of the current situation. After
that, you can set goals for the future and
decide how to track your performance.
Tools
To find the the right marketing tools,
you have to get to know your customers,
find out which medium is likely to reach
them and what kind of message they
might respond to, Merja Heponiemi
says. Some sort of presence in the social
media can increase your credibility even
if your target audience is more interested
in the local newspaper than Facebook.
If a company is not active online in
this day and age, one might wonder if
it even exists, Heponiemi explains. She
adds, however, that no digital tools can
replace talking to people in person,
especially when it comes to business-tobusiness sales.
Increasing your brand’s online
visibility
Ida Erling, CEO of laboratory
equipment manufacturer Labrox Oy,
also believes in the power of personal
contacts and networking. I will not say
that personal selling is compulsory,
since it is actually quite enjoyable! Ms.
Erling points out. As a small company
that has been in business just for three
years, Labrox has made a conscious
effort to be noticed online. Erling
recommends blogging and Twitter as
ways of improving your online visibility.
According to her, frequent updates will
boost your Google ranking and help
people find you, regardless of how many
followers you manage to attract.
Merja Heponiemi says no product sells itself,
no matter how good it is.
11
WTC TURKU
SWAN OF FINLAND
– promoted Finnish Exports in the 1930s
country that Suomen Joutsen visited.
The local press reported widely on the
exhibitions on board and they attracted
a great many viewers, as attested by the
numerous foreign newspaper clippings
that Mr. Auvinen has studied. Finland
was a comparatively little-known
country at the time; hence the publicity
and the interest generated by our threemasted embassy were invaluable both to
Finnish exporters and the government,
Auvinen says.
Author and historian Visa Auvinen, President of the Suomen Joutsen heritage society,
gave WTC club members a lecture on how the frigate Suomen Joutsen (“Swan of
Finland”) sailed around the world promoting Finnish exports in the 1930s.
T
he captain’s saloon where this
event took place once served
as one of Finland’s diplomatic
missions abroad. These days, it is one of
the most prestigious conference rooms
in the city, and has hosted presidents
and other dignitaries such as Vladimir
Putin and Tarja Halonen, says Visa
Auvinen, President of the Suomen
Joutsen heritage society.
Former cargo ship and seamen’s
school becomes a national
treasure
Suomen Joutsen was built in St. Nazaire
in 1902 as Laënnec, a French cargo ship.
In 1922 she was bought by the Germans
and turned into a school ship called
Oldenburg. From 1930 onwards, she
served as a training ship for the Finnish
Navy. From 1961 to 1988, Suomen
Joutsen was a seamen’s school in Turku.
Since 1991 the ship has belonged to the
city of Turku. In 2002 Suomen Joutsen
was moved to its current location in
front of the maritime museum Forum
Marinum, where anyone can visit this
rare gem. According to Mr. Auvinen,
240 similar ships were originally built
with the French government’s support,
but in addition to Suomen Joutsen, only
one of them has survived.
Floating Finnish embassy
In the 1930s the predecessor of today’s
Finpro, the Finnish Export Society, was
looking for new ways to promote Finnish
exports and hit upon the idea of a floating
exhibition, says Auvinen. Between
1934 and 1937, Suomen Joutsen made
three trips to different parts of the
world, first to the Levant, then to South
America and lastly to Dakar and Central
America. A wide range of Finnish
goods such as paper products, furniture,
dairy products, china and cutlery, were
displayed at local ports along the way. A
total of 62 companies participated, some
of them still in business. As the only
open space big enough to accommodate
an exhibition was in the crew’s living
quarters, some of the sailors had to sleep
on the floor of the exhibition room and
others in the sail store while the ship
was at port, Visa Auvinen remarks.
Since fully rigged sailing ships touring
the world had become a rarity by then,
Finland made it to the headlines in every
Future Vision of Tianjin
- Southwest Finland Cooperation
T
urku signed a contract with
Tianjin Binhai New Area in
September 2014 to support
Finnish technology exports to China,
especially to the Binhai area. This
technology transfer project includes
many forms of cooperation between
Tianjin and Finland. Turku Region
Development Centre and WTC Turku
organized a workshop for the visitors
from Tianjin Economic-Technological
Development Area and companies
from Turku. The workshop focused on
finding ways for Southwest Finland and
Tianjin to cooperate. One example was
improving the quality of air in Binhai and
Beijing. Tianjin might also be interested
in Southwest Finland’s maritime
industries, or the local power companies
and cleantech businesses related to
energy efficiency and alternative energy
sources. The workshop revealed that
cooperating on these and other issues
was possible, but putting the plans into
practice still needs to be worked out.
Business Development Officer Megumi
Hayashi (left) from Turku Region
Development Centre was the main organizer
of the event.
Publisher:
Editor-in-chief:
Sub-editor:
Layout:
World Trade Center Turku
Veistämönaukio 1–3,
20100 Turku, FINLAND
Tel: +358 2 281 3100
[email protected]
www.wtc-turku.fi
Mirja Kärkäs-Lainio
WTC Turku
Marjaana Suonpää
Freelancer
Tanja Nurmi
WTC Turku
Anne-Marie Ojala
WTC Turku