Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and Business Finland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation between companies and investment between Japan and Finland. The MoU was signed by DBJ President and Chief Executive Officer Kikuchi Shin and Business Finland’s Director General and CEO Nina Kopola in Tokyo.
“DBJ is a government-owned bank that plays a significant role to design the future of Japanese industries by its integrated investment and loan service. I am sure this MoU will widen the opportunities for Japanese companies to participate in the Finnish innovation ecosystem and to innovate with Finland”, says Eiji Atsumi, Invest in Finland’s Tokyo Representative.
FINLAND CAN CONTRIBUTE TO JAPAN’S SOCIETY 5.0 VISION
Ranked 6th in the world in the 2019 Global Innovation Index, Finland is seen by DBJ as an attractive innovation partner with the ability to create innovation ecosystems and testbed environments through collaboration between industry, government and academic institutions.
“Recently, Finland has placed particular focus on the fields of healthcare, 5G, and smart cities, all of which have huge potential for collaboration in line with Japan’s Society 5.0,” says DBJ in a statement.
“Utilizing DBJ’s extensive industrial network and finance knowledge and Business Finland’s innovation ecosystem, the two parties will contribute to the creation of joint innovation, promoting collaboration between companies and sustainable growth in their respective countries.”
Society 5.0 is the blueprint for transforming Japan into a super-smart society, integrating the frontier between cyberspace and the physical world to create a sustainable, inclusive socio-economic system, powered by digital technology such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and robotics.
According to DBJ, this is the first time that a Japanese financial institution is forming a business alliance with Business Finland. The signing of the MoU also coincides with the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland.
