Government submits industrial policy report to Parliament

The Government submitted to Parliament its report on industrial policy on 27 March 2025. According to the report, Finland must improve the competitiveness of its investment environment by predictable regulation and sufficient incentives. Companies must increase their intangible investments to enhance productivity and the value added. Public funding must be used more efficiently to boost new sectors and diversify the economic structure.

Many changes are affecting the operating environment of industry at present. The Government therefore considers it necessary for political decision-makers to discuss the big picture and broad outlines of Finland’s industrial policy in the long term. The Government hopes that the discussion will help create a shared vision of the factors contributing to the success of Finnish industry. 

The report is based on an industrial policy strategy prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and submitted to Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman in December 2024. The strategy includes a set of policies essential for the export industry, such as logistics, and aims to increase the number of growth-oriented and export-focused companies that provide work and to retain existing jobs in Finland. 

“State-led industrial policies have made a come-back in Asia, America and Europe. This poses a major challenge for a small open economy like Finland. Industrial policy issues are also high on our agenda concerning both the growth measures the Government will consider in its mid-term budget framework session and the implementation of decisions already made,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman. 

The report is a strategic agenda for the renewal and growth of Finnish industry and provides an overview of the Government’s industrial policy priorities and the means to implement them. The report also examines the initiatives related to EU industrial policy that are of primary importance to Finland and links them with the framework of national industrial policy. 

The report highlights the new policy measures proposed by the strategy steering group. These are: 

• Developing the competitiveness of the operating environment to attract investments. 
• Enhancing public funding to leverage private funding.
• Increasing productivity and the value added by investing in intangible capital.
• Generating growth from research, innovations and international networks.
• Exploiting opportunities offered by the clean transition, the bioeconomy and the circular economy.
• Investing in logistics, infrastructure and industrial hubs.
• Ensuring the availability of skilled labour.

Inquiries:
Antti Valle, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. + 358 295 060 140
Mikko Huuskonen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 063 732