Press release, March 21, 2012

Tougher international competition and the challenging economic situation have increased Finnish companies' interest in the Nordic market. Finpro will be opening new trade centers in Stockholm and Oslo this spring.

"In recent years, Finnish small and medium-sized companies have shown increasing interest in the Swedish and Norwegian markets. Our assignments in these countries have more than doubled over the past three years," says Finpro's Jukka Salo, Executive Vice President, Operations and Network.

Finpro's annual corporate survey showed that interest in Sweden and Norway has clearly increased. Salo believes that this is partly due to tougher international competition and the challenging economic situation. These markets offer Finnish companies some outstanding business opportunities.

"Finpro is responding to increased demand by opening a trade center in Oslo in March and another one in Stockholm later this spring. Earlier, people tended to think that companies can manage on their own in our neighboring countries. However, there is a clear need for internationalization support in the Nordic countries as well. Practices in different industries vary even when operating close to home, explains Salo.

Neighboring markets offer great possibilities

"In Norway, the greatest opportunities are associated with the energy and oil industry. The shipbuilding industry also has a lot of potential. Sweden is Finland's most important partner and it has always offered interesting business opportunities for Finnish companies," states Salo.

Sweden and Norway already have several established and well-functioning actors to support Finnish entrepreneurship, such as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland's diplomatic missions and the Finnish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce. Finpro will continue to cooperate with these actors.

"Our services complement what is already offered by other Finnish organizations, and cooperation will aim at enhancing the success of companies in Sweden and Norway," continues Salo.
Over 600 Finnish companies currently operate in Sweden and more than 200 in Norway.

For further information:

Jukka Salo, Executive Vice President, Operations and Network, Finpro, +358 400 345 827, jukka.salo(a)finpro.fi

Outi Torniainen, Senior Vice President, Communication and Marketing, Finpro, +358 40 512 1375, outi.torniainen(a)finpro.fi

Finpro is a global organization building the growth and success of Finnish companies in international markets. Both locally and globally, Finpro's networking benefits our clients and our partners. We have more than  370 professionals in 66 offices  in almost 50 countries.

Finpro opens up future business opportunities in international markets. The expertise and services we provide boost our clients' success in the different phases of internationalization, enabling them to be in the right markets at the right time with a competitive concept and offering. In addition to internationalization services, Finpro manages important international initiatives such as Cleantech Finland, a network of top Finnish cleantech companies, Future Learning Finland, a national education export cluster and FinNode, a network of Finnish innovation organizations.

For more information please visit www.finpro.fi