Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's Opening Speech for Team Finland Day on 25 August 2016

(subject to change)

Esteemed Team Finland colleagues,
honourable business representatives and
ambassadors,

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a representative of a Finnish SME. He said that he was finalising an investment contract with a certain Indian company, a development which had emerged from our Team Finland trip to Mumbai in February.

This one e-mail was enough to remind me, once again, of why Team Finland's work is so important and how it concerns us all. Finnish companies have a huge amount of know-how. Many succeed in the world on their own but it is vital that, whenever we are needed, we can join forces, roll up our sleeves and seek openings and new opportunities together with enterprises.

Work under the name of Team Finland has been under way for around four years. Much has been achieved and I would like to thank all those of you who have been involved in creating this new departure and who have had faith in change. Much work remains to be done; fortunately, we have plenty of willing hands and are moving in the right direction.

I regard it as an important step forward that Team Finland has entered into closer cooperation with new actors – regional and private actors and chambers of commerce providing internationalisation services – as we can see here on Team Finland Day. Bodies and organisations abound in the world, through which – in addition to providing assistance via our own public sector actors – we can help Finnish companies to gain access to global value networks.

Team Finland's activities are playing a key role in achieving the Government's objective of raising Finland's employment rate. We want to encourage more and more Finnish companies, particularly SMEs, to venture out into the world – even those which are not here today. Our goal is to double exports by SMEs by 2020. This is not an impossible aim. In this context, our public authorities can offer top-down help, where appropriate, by dispensing with pointless norms and opening doors; while also getting out of the way when they are not needed.

Dear friends,

Next year, Finland will celebrate one hundred years of independence. This is a very important milestone. The theme of our centenary will be 'Together'. This revolves around the same spirit of working together which carries Team Finland forward.

So what gift could you present to the hundred-year-old Finland?

This is where I would like to encourage everyone, particularly the Finnish companies here today, to engage in Finland 100 activities. Finland has given us a full century – now it is our turn to contribute something to Finland's future. What new forms of cooperation, working together and participation would your company like to give to Finland? From the perspective of society, a company's mission is to generate economic wellbeing in the regions in which it operates. It should invest and employ people. So let our gift to the hundred-year-old Finland be this – to invest and employ.

I would also like to make another practical proposal. I suggest that we develop a Finland 100 mentoring programme for the development of international business activities among SMEs: experienced Finnish executives and our ambassadors and honorary consuls around the world could join forces to mentor SMEs in the spirit of Finland 100. These mentoring teams would provide Team Finland sparring on internationalisation – based on the country or region in question but free-ranging in scope – to companies looking beyond the domestic market. Such mentoring would be free of charge in the spirit of serving the community, and could range from a few brainstorming sessions all the way to board membership.

Esteemed business representatives,

I would also like to challenge you to participate in another forward-looking, voluntary activity which would benefit the world in general, as well as Finland. Finland is a country of sustainable development solutions. We take the United Nations sustainable development action plan, also known as Agenda 2030, very seriously. We have made a social commitment, which is unique by international standards, to sustainable development and we now challenge Finnish companies to come on board in large numbers.

This model has also raised worldwide interest, which we should leverage as part of the Finnish enterprise story on the world markets. Responsible business operations embracing the principles of sustainable development provide a strong boost to a company's international competitiveness. We would like Team Finland to play its part in this.

Dear friends,

Team Finland activities are also about building an image of Finland and we are all ambassadors in this respect. Strong messages and a wide range of instruments have been developed for telling Finland's story abroad – whether this concerns the world's first country-specific emojis or the extensive Team Finland toolbox. We should use these tools – Finland's story is worth telling and sharing.

In chairing the Team Finland steering group, I have received terrific support from Risto Siilasmaa, who will take the stage next. He will be followed by my ministerial colleagues, Olli Rehn and Kai Mykkänen, who will tell us in greater detail about the reforms completed in the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the work still to be done in developing the activities of Team Finland.

However, today you – our business representatives – are the stars and I hope that this morning's speed dating sessions prove useful for you. Based on my own experience, I can tell you that ambassadors are perfectly pleasant, ordinary people, so you have no need to feel nervous about your dates. Please remember that, even after today, you should not hesitate to contact the actors within our network whenever you need help.

I wish you all an outstanding and inspiring Team Finland Day and the very best of success in the future!

English translation of the speech published on 26 August 2016.