Business Finland published its first performance report on the 14th of February. Business Finland has played a key role in accelerating growth and attracting foreign investment. For Business Finland’s customers, the year 2018 was a year of growth, as their exports increased by 24%. Investments in Finland by foreign companies increased by 44%.
Business Finland continues the important work of its predecessors, Tekes and Finpro, for the good of the whole of Finland. It is an indisputable fact, that public innovation funding, when targeted right, plays an important part in the success of companies, and the society as a whole.
– We work for the long-term welfare of the Finnish society. I am happy to say, that we were able to achieve good results even with limited resources. Each euro invested in innovations can trigger up to 20 or 30 times new growth and renewal. The 300 million euro addition to innovation funding, proposed by the Confederation of Finnish Industries, would result in 60 000 new jobs and 6 billion euros worth of new exports. All this can be done in just one parliamentary term, says Pekka Soini, Director General of Business Finland.
Companies estimate funding from Business Finland as their most important source of funding for renewal. The impressive growth figures of Business Finland’s client companies prove the point.
– The turnover of Business Finland funded Finnish SMEs, increased by 20 % in 2014-2017, in comparison to non-Business Finland funded SMEs, who increased their turnover by 13 %. Similarly, our clients’ exports grew by 24%, and they were able to increase their value added by 22%. This is a good number for renewal, says Soini.
