Finland Times

     If the operation attains its goals in saving public money and producing new tax payers, Finnish authorities will pay back the investment plus an interest, the Finnish business daily Kauppalehti reported on Tuesday.

     Success is determined through the financial impact on the society by the trainees in terms of the amount of tax they pay after three years, as well as the employment related benefits they will have received from the authorities.

     The "new Finns" emerging from the investor-backed system will be compared with a similar size group of immigrants who have attended the traditional public-financed acclimatization courses.

     If the experimental system is cheaper than the traditional approach, part of the savings will be returned to the investors as an interest payment.

     The scheme is being arranged by the Finnish Ministry for Employment and the Economy together with a Finnish development fund.

     The actual model of financing is based on the Social Impact Bond (SIB) system, introduced first in Britain in 2010. The Finnish arrangers believe this is the first time the SIBs are used for acclimatizing immigrants.

     Senior counsellor Sonja Hamalainen from the ministry told Kauppalehti that savings will be unavoidable, if, for example, the private venture will produce an "employment ready" person in two and a half months instead of two and half years the normal process would take.

     Ministry officials are so convinced about the viability of the system that a limit for the profit margin is being considered.

     However, Kauppalehti analyst Maija Vehvilainen said the immigrants could face perils. She said a short crash course for a low end job could mean for the immigrant "a life sentence into low wages."

     Counsellor Hamalainen admitted the risks exist and they have been considered. She defended the scheme on the grounds that all immigrants enrolled will be volunteers.

     The investor-driven program would be offered as an alternative to the acclimatization services provided by the authorities.

     The scheme will need hundreds of interested immigrants. Finnish authorities estimate that required investments would amount to a few millions of euros. In the event of a failure, the investors would suffer the impact.

     Finland witnessed over 32,000 arriving foreigners claiming to be refugees in 2015, 10 times the normal annual figure. A proportion of them are supposed to be able to remain in the country.