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Thu, 19 Dec, 2013 12:00:18 AM FTimes- Xinhua Report by Denise Wall, December 19  Economic Affairs Minister Jan Vapaavuori. Photo Lehtikuva Finland's recent rocky economic fortunes have prompted the government to roll out an Arctic development policy first mooted back in the summer of 2010.
With pillars of the economy such as the pulp and paper and electronics industries buckling, the government is pinning its hopes on the revamped strategy's potential for creating new business opportunities.
One week before Christmas, Finnish Economic Affairs Minister Jan Vapaavuori announced that the government was investing in majority ownership (66.4 percent) of Aker Arctic, an icebreaker technology company previously owned by the struggling shipbuilder STX Finland.
According to the minister, the purchase would help advance the government's newly-revamped Arctic strategy, formally adopted in August this year.
"Arctic sea traffic is expected to increase significantly in the coming years and decades. As a leading developer of Arctic solutions, Aker Arctic has a good chance of securing a major market share in the sector," Vapaavuori said in a statement about the 9.3 million-euros (12.7 million U.S. dollars) investment.
File picture of Aker Arctic in Helsinki. Photo Lehtikuva Compared to the other eight Arctic countries, the Finnish government sees its Arctic strategy as the most comprehensive game plan in terms of scope, objectives and tangible actions.
"The plan identifies 50 goals and 120 different actions, so it is a plan of action as well as a strategy," said Hannu Halinen, Finland's Arctic Ambassador.
Halinen noted that as many as half of the strategy's concrete tasks are related to exploiting Arctic business potential. Others address socio-economic, environmental and stability or security issues as well as international cooperation. Another key focus of the program is access the Arctic Ocean to secure trading routes.
"We are considering the possibility of a rail route to the Arctic Ocean. Whether it will go through Sweden, Norway or Russia is currently under review," Halinen explained.
Much of the government's concrete actions in implementing the Arctic policy will remain invisible to many Finns, as the plan features a multi-sectoral approach involving different government ministries, units and civil servants with clear targets, actions, budgets and timetables.
However, the issue of Arctic exploitation has long been in the cross-hairs of the environmental lobby Greenpeace Finland. Greenpeace Nordic Arctic Campaign Leader Tapio Laakso said while the updated strategy document contains progressive language about conservation of protected regions and resources, references to oil and gas exploitation raise concerns about climate change.
"We already know that two-thirds of carbon resources should stay in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change, and the strategy does not address this," Laakso added.
Ambassador Halinen acknowledged that environmental risks do exist, however, "a moratorium on all Arctic activities is not possible," he said.
The government is quietly pushing ahead with its action plan, but as far as the environmental lobby is concerned, it will have to work hard to prove that the goal of sustainable development of the Arctic can be realized. More News
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| Tuesday, 14 May, 2024 |
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