I was honored to be part of the Team Finland Day 2018 held in Helsinki on Thursday August 30th 2018, representing Middle- East countries together with Ambassadors Ms. Riitta Swan, UAE and Mr. Pekka Voutilainen, KSA, and Business Finland representative Mr. Jukka Hahlanterä, UAE.
Team Finland day is targeted to all Finnish SMEs looking to go global. It is a unique event, where one can meet Team Finland network experts from over 90 different countries, all under one roof. Whether it is about, growth accelerating services, funding options or just about networking, there is definitely something for everybody.
Team Finland is an integral part of Finnish SMEs' internationalization process. Together with government entities, they are able to open doors for businesses, that an individual would not be able to do. As part of their services, they are able to asses, if/when the company is ready to enter certain markets and give individual advice for the same.
The day was filled with several informative speeches, presentations and activities, that many wished this was a 2-days event. That way it would be possible to participate to all the informative workshops and presentations, rather than just choosing one event in each time category.
One of these activities were specially popular: “country/topic specific speed dating event” which gave participants a 15 minutes time-slot to discuss with those, who are immensely experienced in their fields, whether an Ambassador of a specific country, FinnCham representative or a Business Finland specialist. This gave an excellent platform for participants to network with correct focus groups.
Being in the same space with 850 persons from around the world, sharing global ideas and networking with immensely experienced individuals was an experience already by itself. Personally, I enjoyed the atmosphere and energy of the event and cannot wait to attend similar events in the near future again in Finland or abroad.
For more information about Team Finland, their activities and events can be found on https://team.finland.fi/en/frontpage
Till Next Year!
Katja Boutou
Chairman of Finnish Business Council UAE
