Finland Australia Chamber of Commerce Newsletter

From the Editor's desk

The New Executive Board has been working behind the scenes planning new activities and events for the year including the up and coming FACC Midsummer celebration, which will take place on 24 June. The organisers are creating Midsummer Magic and are promising lots of fun! FACC is also organising a Small Business Seminar on 12 September. This event will be useful for those business people who are considering setting up a small or medium sized business or are already running one. The seminar will be covering topical issues in the areas of business set up, contract issues, responsibilities and duties of company directors; recruitment/immigration issues and accounting, customs and tax issues as well as importing and exporting. Details of both events will be announced in the near future.

"The boat is like a corporation, we have 30 young, very talented, ambitious achievers, with big egos and they all want my job", says Finnish born ocean-racing yachtsmen Ludde Ingvall. In this edition we are featuring Ludde as the Finn of the Month; one of the most famous Finns living in Australia, being the double winner of Sydney to Hobart Race.

Finland has scored a few top positions in the global arena lately. It's been names one of the world leaders in globalisation and competitiveness.. And Finns, being sports fans like Aussies, have recently been most excited about young Kimi Raikkonen who won two recent Formula One races in Spain and Monaco and did almost a hat trick in Nurburgring in Germany, but crashed out on the last lap while leading. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the Finnish National Icehockey team, which performed poorly at the World Championships last month. We cannot win them all.

Looks like Finland is in good hands. According to latest polls* Mrs President Halonen would score 53% of the votes if the Presidential elections would be held now. She has agreed to be nominated as the candidate for the Social Democratic party for the next Presidential elections. Tarja Halonen was elected as the President in 2000.

Exel - delivering value across the supply chain

The work of Exel touches many aspects of our day-to-day lives, across the globe, 24-hours-a-day. As you sleep, Exel is delivering the food that you buy and the petrol that drives your car that we help build and service. As you go about your daily routine, your mobile phone, personal computer and household electronics have been touched by our teams and our solutions to ensure that you have the choice and efficiency that today's world demands. When crisis comes, our solutions support the medical care you receive and ensure the prescriptions you need are waiting for you and your family.

It's a high-speed world and Exel keeps it moving. People want things now - quicker than ever before - tomorrow's products today.

Upcoming FACC events:

FACC Midsummer Party - 24 June 2005, Mosman Rowers Club, Mosman

FACC Small business seminar - 12 September 2005, venue TBA

Perspectives from Australia's Ambassadors

FACC members were invited on February 17, to meet the Australian Ambassadors to 16 European countries at a breakfast organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Among the Ambassadors was Mr. Richard Rowe, Australian Ambassador to Sweden and Finland. The event took place at the Rydges Hotel in the Whitley Ballroom.

Finnish MPs' visit Australia

A delegation of 10 members from the Parliament of Finland visited Sydney and Canberra in March by the invitation of the Parliament of Australia. Head of the delegation was the former Prime Minister of Finland, Mr. Paavo Lipponen, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland, who is one of the architects of Finland's EU policies. Part of the program was the visit to the NSW Trade and Investment Centre in Sydney on Friday 18 March. The meeting was convened by FACC in association with the European Australian Business Council and hosted by the NSW Department of State and Regional Developments. The delegation was accompanied H.E. Mrs. Anneli Puura-Märkälä, Ambassador of Finland and Dr. Hannu Märkälä.

Finn of the Month: Ludde Ingvall

We met with Sydney based Finnish born Ludde Ingvall who is one of the most experienced and successful ocean racing yachtsmen on the international scene. His notable achievements include line honours in the Sydney-Hobart race in 2000 and 2004, the Fastnet Race in 1995, World Championship titles in 1997 and 1998, and the transatlantic monohull record in 1997. For his remarkable efforts, Ludde has been awarded twice with the title of Yachtsman of the Year by the Swedish Sailing Association, both in 1995 and 2000. "I've been lucky - I've been able to devote much of my life to the one thing I enjoy above all else", says Ludde Ingvall. He has lived in a number of places around the world, but after winning the 2000 Sydney-Hobart race, he and his family moved to Australia. They now own a small farm north of Sydney, which Ludde, his wife and their three daughters share with three horses and four dogs.

A few good reasons to do business with Finland

Finnish information technology in good form According to the World Economic Forum, Finland ranks third, after Singapore and Iceland, on the 'networked readiness' index. This success did not trigger any particular excitement in Finland. After all, winning the bronze seems rather tame after taking the gold in the WEF statistics for mobile phone and Internet use.

Finland one of the leaders in Globalisation The management-consulting firm A.T. Kearney and the respected Foreign Policy Magazine Globalisation Index ranks Finland as one of the world leaders in globalisation. Finland is positioned as no.10 out of 62 countries in the ranking of economic and political integration. Australia takes up the position as no. 13.