Start-ups increase Finland’s competitiveness

The development of the start-up operating environment in Finland has been favourable in the past few years. However, Finland is lagging behind its peer countries in the development of the start-up operating environment and the atmosphere for entrepreneurship, states the report ‘Growth drivers and bottlenecks of start-up companies’ published on 6 October 2016.

“We have to be able to remove more barriers to both setting up a business and developing an entrepreneurial mindset. We must aim at agile entrepreneurship and development of an even more flexible operating environment in terms of regulations,” stresses Olli Rehn, Minister of Economic Affairs. “According to the report, the competitors, such as the Netherlands and Germany, are ahead of Finland in this regard.”

The solution the authors of the report propose for bringing the development in Finland at least to the same level with its competitors is a cross-administrative start-up strategy that also concerns, for example, education and development of capabilities for entrepreneurship.

“ The recommendations of the working group will be taken into consideration when the Government’s entrepreneur package is developed. We will work in strong collaboration with start-up entrepreneurs and all operators who have an effect on the operation of start-ups,” the Minister of Economic Affairs says referring to further measures. “At the same time, we will evaluate the other recommendations in the report, for example, regarding the development of expertise in start-ups and their financing.”

“This report is an excellent basis for developing the start-up operating environment to the level we want it to be to be able to boost growth and businesses in Finland,” says Minister Rehn.

“Finnish businesses are more growth-oriented than before and more prepared to seek growth in international markets. In addition, there is a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurship,” Minister Olli Rehn lists the encouraging signals in the report. “Nevertheless, according to the report, we are lagging too far behind our competitors in international development in making the beginning and daily work of start-up entrepreneurship smoother.”

The report tells us how start-up policy should be developed so that it would best support the growth of businesses. The report was implemented as a part of the Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities. The report was prepared by Ramboll Management Consulting Oy, Etlatieto Oy, 4Front Oy, Urban Mill and The Evidence Network Ltd.

The report is available to read here (in Finnish).

Further information:

Hannu Väänänen, Special Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 410 4909
Tuija Ypyä, Special Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 431 6510