Finland sent a major trade delegation to Indonesia in October with some world leading companies in tow. The leader of the delegation was Ms. Anne-Mari Virolainen, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development. Here’s what she had to say about the delegation.

Ms. Anne-Mari Virolainen, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of Finlad visited Indonesia. Photo by Raditya Fadilla/NOW!JAKARTA

It is a great pleasure to visit Indonesia on a Team Finland trade mission with a distinguished business delegation. During our mission, we will focus on tapping on the existing potential in the field of energy.

Indonesia has maintained a strong economic growth and the outlook continues positive. Therefore, it is a natural market for Finnish companies to explore. Many Finnish companies have already established operations in Indonesia and I am pleased that also companies in the energy sector have entered the Indonesian market. Opportunities for Finnish companies exist both on regional and municipal levels.

Finland is a global leader in energy technology, which is also one of Finland’s largest technology export clusters. Finland is a high-tech solution provider and a reliable partner. In the contemporary energy sector, Finnish technologies and solutions can support Indonesia’s aim of increasing the use of renewable energy. We have a lot to gain from increased cooperation.

The visit to Indonesia is well timed; as Indonesia’s new reform-minded government has initiated wide-ranging economic reforms with massive investments in energy. As the need for energy production and the volume of municipal waste are increasing, Finnish companies have the opportunity to offer wide range of expertise and technological knowhow for the Indonesia energy sector.

Trade between Finland and Indonesia has developed positively during the past few years. In 2017, imports from Indonesia increased 33 per cent to 151 million euros and exports to Indonesia increased 63 per cent to 256 million euros. Exports have historically been the backbone of the Finnish economy. What started mainly with pulp and paper has nowadays diversified significantly.

Companies in my business delegation represent world-class expertise in energy sector. They are not only capable of building powerful networks but also of equipping them with secure and smart applications and services, creating both social and economic value to their customers.

This team Finland trade mission to Indonesia provides excellent opportunities for the participating companies in both countries. I am convinced that we will establish new networks and strengthen existing relations. I look forward to a fruitful and interesting visit.

WHY FINLAND

Pioneer in green and smart energy
It is common knowledge that energy needs to get a lot smarter and that renewables have to become universal. Finland is ranked among the greenest countries in the world and 40 per cent of their energy is produces with renewables like biomass, hydro, wind or solar power. The industry is characteriSed by a high level of digitalisation.

In energy, Finland offers efficient, reliable and sound technologies for all the imaginable purposes, including renewables and waste-to-energy. They are a global market leader in energy technologies. Finland has one of the most advanced smart grid markets in the world and their cleantech repertoire offers a wide variety of efficient, reliable and sound technology solutions. Their companies are specialized in intelligent energy management and they have the expertise to optimize energy use with complete life cycle solutions. Focus areas include wave energy, solar energy, charging stations and district heating- not to forget consultation, implementation and maintenance services.

They also have a long tradition of utilizing waste in energy production. For decades, the waste and side streams of the Finnish forest industry have been successfully utilized in energy generation. Finland has supreme solutions covering the whole value chain from efficient waste collection and logistics to pre-treatment and energy conversion. Their companies possess in waste minimizing, raw material reuse and recycling as well as energy recovery and final disposal.

They have world-class technologies for power plants utilizing waste as feedstock. The plants typically use mixed waste from households, shops and industry to produce electricity and heat to local residential areas and cities.

Digital innovation is coded in Finnish DNA
Nokia’s lasting legacy ensures that Finnish engineers know how to mass manufacture even the most complex electronics. In practice, this means that digital expertise is widespread in our society, forming the backbone of the companies working towards a smarter future.

Finnish IoT expertise goes beyond traditional manufacturing and provides the brains behind efficient energy production and management. Finnish companies have developed an array of technologies to monitor, sense, optimize and automate energy steams from production to the end user. Not only for the companies set the industry benchmark for data acquisition, visualisation and analysis, they also exemplify the open and productive attitude Finnish companies bring to ICT partnerships.

Alistair Speirs

Alistair Speirs

Alistair has been in the publishing, advertising and PR business for 25 years. He started NOW! Magazines as the region’s preferred community magazine.