Finland Times

Lapland Chamber of Commerce President Timo Rautajoki. Photo Source Lapland Chamber.

The Lapland Chamber of Commerce is going to hold the seventh Arctic Business Forum in the Korundi House of Culture in Rovaniemi on April 6-7.

 

The chamber has been hosting the forum annually since 2010 to present the latest business developments in and future prospects of the Arctic economy. According to Lapland Chamber of Commerce President Timo Rautajoki who came up with the plan 10 years ago, the idea was initially to draw the Finnish government’s attentions to the investment potentials of the Finnish Lapland.

 

The forum is about sharing information, networking, and finding the trends and what is happening new. This year, Rautajoki said, topics like when raw materials prices will come back, when self-driving cars could come to Lapland, Aurora project, etc will be discussed in the forum.

 

The Finnish foreign trade and development minister, a high represent from EU and the US ambassador to Finland are among the dignitaries scheduled to deliver opening speeches in this year’s forum.

 

According to Rautajoki, the first two forums were held only in Finnish, but they have aroused big interests and international attention. Last year stakeholders from 23 countries attended the forum.

 

When asked why international cooperation and networking are important for the Arctic business, Rautajoki said, “We can see the results at this moment – although not excellent, but our business has been pretty fine. Compared with Southern Finland, we have been surviving, we have bigger international investment and many companies from Southern Finland have opened branch offices in Lapland.”

 

“This year, the biggest obstacle for us is the financial crisis. After that is the lack of information about Arctic business. What we can do is build networks for companies and make more companies join the talk. Interest is very strong in North Norway and North Sweden. Besides, right now there are about 50 companies from Southern Finland who want to open branch offices here,” the chamber leader added.

 

The Arctic Business Forum Yearbook 2016 will be released at the forum giving an estimate on the region’s investment potentials for the next five years.