Finland Times

(From Left to Right )European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb, Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, Minister of Education, Krista Kiuru and International Development minister Heidi Hautala at a press conference after adopting Team Finland Strategy on Thursday. Photo - Lehtikuva.

The government has adopted the Team Finland strategy to improve the effectiveness of the country's external economic relations and promote its image internationally aiming at more foreign investment.

 

The strategy was made reviewing overarching priorities for the activities of the Team Finland project to encourage foreign investment and promote the country image by bringing together all related key actors and services, an official release said on Thursday.

 

The Team Finland strategy was drawn up by the steering group for Finland's External Economic Relations, chaired by Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen.

 

Shortly after adopting the strategy, the Prime Minister said, “In today's changing world, the state must promote the generation of added value in our national economy on a wide front. By doing so, we can create growth, employment and well-being in Finland.”

 

Katainen said that in addition to export promotion, it is necessary to make Finland attractive.

 

The preparation involved extensive consultations with Team Finland network participants, stakeholder groups and non-governmental organizations.

 

In 2014, special attention will be paid to increasing efficiency in internationalization advisory services and data production, as well as networking and having an influence in the target markets, said the strategy.

 

Publicly funded services will be used to bridge so-called market gaps – on services where there is a rational basis for public funding. In internationalization services, the priorities include clean-tech, ICT and software business, life sciences, bio-economy, Arctic competence, creative industries and design and education.

 

Steps will be taken to promote foreign investment in Finland. One of these steps will involve tapping into the Team Finland network abroad for these purposes, said the strategy.

 

Finland will focus on three key themes in country branding: cleanliness, design and competence. The key strategic concept will be to emphasize topics that attract widespread public attention and raise interest in Finland.