Trade Tech: Delivering for People in Need. Minister Tavio's speech in Davos Jan 21st 2025

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this topical event. 

The global community has faced various types of shocks in recent years, from pandemic to conflicts. This poses a question to governments and businesses: how can we provide essential goods and services to our citizens and customers?

Finland is a strategically located nation, putting emphasis on international trade. Ensuring the flow of goods and services even in time of crises is paramount. We need very close co-operation between the public and private sectors.

The Finnish security of supply model relies on our businesses’ knowhow in maintaining continuity of operations at all times. The public and private actors do contingency planning together.

In the public sector, the Finnish Customs uses technology solutions to monitor and analyze trade data. This way, we can identify unusual trade patterns, and anticipate potential shortages of supply.

On the private sector side, Finnish companies’ trade tech solutions include smart logistics, icebreaking capabilities, digital connectivity and supply chain management. These technologies can support other countries in ensuring their ability to trade.

It is our aim to ensure the supply of critical goods and services even at a time of crisis. Part of the work is done within the context of the European Union as well as NATO.

When thinking of critical supplies at times of crisis, one tends to think of food, water and medical supplies. But we also need to think about the functioning of communications, financial services, or other critical services in various fields.

For example, Russia’s war of aggression has caused significant damage to Ukraine’s telecom and energy infrastructure. Thousands of base stations and tens of thousands of fibre-optic lines have been lost. Russia has also launched devastating attacks on Ukraine’s electricity production plants and grid. This has affected the supply of power. Ukraine has to restore and strengthen their communications links to keep their economy online. Our companies like Nokia have been supporting Ukraine in these efforts.

We believe modern digital networks make Ukraine more resilient. They also support a productivity leap in sectors such as energy, manufacturing and transport. The Ukrainian and Finnish authorities collaborate to advance digitalization, and to build a crisis-resilient digital infrastructure in Ukraine. Finland promotes private sector investments into Ukraine. The implementation is in the hands of Ukrainian and Finnish companies. They have the knowhow on cutting-edge digital infrastructure and innovative technologies. 

Trade and supply chain continuity are important also for the humanitarian assistance. If, for example, Ukraine’s private sector cannot source supplies from the global markets, the humanitarian needs of people may not be sufficiently satisfied. 

Humanitarian organizations, too, purchase equipment and assistance material from the private sector. If they cannot move surgical material from country to country, they cannot support local hospitals treating wounded people.

The events in recent years have made us look at supply chains and global trade in a new light. The importance of technology is greater than ever.

In Finland, we make best use of the advantages of digital trade data processing. At the same time, we prepare ourselves for any electronic system disruptions. The availability of critical goods must not be hindered by any system failure. The EU is also reforming its customs practices by leveraging new technological solutions in order to facilitate trade.

The Finnish businesses are driven by the ambition to provide digitalized solutions to help the various stages of trade. Their solutions help reduce waste and enable safe and efficient handling of cargo in the ports. Efficient supply chains, all the way from the country of production to the retailers and to the consumers, improve the security of supply. 

Finland has a long tradition of collaboration between the public sector, the private sector and the third sector in ensuring the security of supply at all times. There is a strong joint commitment to look after our collective security.

To be even better equipped to manage risks in the future, the public and private sectors should work together to assess any risks in critical supply chains. Information sharing between the two is of key importance and can be very beneficial for both sides.

Companies have a granular understanding of their own supply chains, while governments can collect such information from several companies to paint a full picture. Both sides also have unique insights on the probability of different risks.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Covid-19 pandemic made some of the vulnerabilities visible, and like rest of the world, also Finland is now better prepared, should we find ourselves in a crisis again. I would like to highlight two lessons especially:

First, the role of efficient customs authorities is critical at a time of a global pandemic. Our customs proved their ability to adapt to unpredictable changes in global trade. Thanks to the situation awareness of the customs, we knew how the supply chains and global logistics evolved in those circumstances.

Second, the pandemic showed how important the international connections between the customs authorities are: good working relations help solve practical challenges. 

Some of the lessons learned from the pandemic are now put into use to support Ukraine. The Finnish customs do their best to facilitate the flow of critical supplies to Ukraine.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has security implications for Europe as a whole. We must re-invest in global security of supply in times of crisis. Finland can help other countries and businesses to ensure that they stay connected to the global economy through the seas, land, air and space with our technological solutions. Securing global interconnectivity through international and public–private cooperation is paramount for safeguarding trade flows in all circumstances. Finland and its companies are ready to do their part to prepare as well as respond to crises across the globe.
Thank you.