World situation and safety discussed at Elinkeinofoorumi

13.4.2022 7.51

This year, Elinkeinofoorumi was organised with the hybrid model, making use of the practices learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 180 participants arrived in Dipoli and more than 200 listened to the event remotely, which is a sign of courage and a strong desire to meet colleagues once again. For the first time in three years, Elinkeinofoorumi enabled face-to-face encounters.

Corporate resilience and safety became the main themes of the Elinkeinofoorumi business forum, which took place on Tuesday, 5 April.

Mayor of Espoo, Jukka Mäkelä spoke confidently about Espoo’s development with a theme of turning a crisis into growth. He believes Espoo will continue to grow steadily. This year, marking the 50th anniversary of becoming a city, the milestone of 300,000 residents will be reached and the forecast is that by 2050 there will be 400,000 Espoo residents.

“This means that, notwithstanding crises, we must rely on growth,” said Mayor Jukka Mäkelä in his opening speech in Dipoli.

Even though it seems like we are moving from one crisis to the next, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Skinnari wanted to emphasise in his speech that Finland is one of the best-prepared countries in the world. In this work, cities have a key role.

“In the midst of all this, I would like to say that let us rely on the processes that we have been building for a long time. Let us trust the system that we have in place. Let us have confidence in democracy and let us have confidence in each other. If and when we do so, we will be strong enough to achieve great things. Positive mindset, a glimmer of hope, is an absolute competitive advantage of Finland,” Skinnari said, restoring faith in all of us.

Time passed will never return. It is a learning process for all of us.

Markets have already bounced back from the war

The war continues in Ukraine and takes up much of the media space and occupies people’s minds. However, graphs presented by Valtteri Ahti, Chief Strategist of Evli Bank Plc, showed that the stock market has already recovered from the war.

“Stock prices are already higher than before the war. To put it bluntly, the war is already over from the perspective of the markets,” Ahti said.

Valtteri Ahti, Chief Strategist of Evli Bank Plc, shared the results of a study conducted on investors. They are most preoccupied by the war in Ukraine, the global slump and inflation.

The most anticipated guest of Elinkeinofoorumi was Jarno Limnéll. He has a lot to say about the security situation of the world. Limnéll holds a Doctor of Military Science and works as Professor of practice of Cyber Security at Aalto University and as Vice President for Cybersecurity Solutions at Innofactor Plc. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s expert network and often seen commenting on security matters in the media. In addition, Limnéll is also an Espoo-based influencer. He is the 1st Vice-chairperson of the City Council of Espoo and the Chairperson of the County Council of the Western Uusimaa wellbeing services county.

Although Limnéll speaks about security and, in particular, cybersecurity, he does not want to be gloomy, at most realistic.

“Security speech is often about threats and risks, but security also allows us to do many things,” Limnéll said.

Entrepreneurs also share this belief. According to a study, 95% of entrepreneurs consider Finland to be a good location for a company. 78% think that security is a positive competitive edge for companies. Limnéll believes that it is realism and honesty that create a sense of security.

According to Limnéll, corporate espionage is currently one of the key threats to Finland’s competitiveness.

The future takes place in two different worlds: the physical world and the man-made cyber world based on technology.

Limnéll emphasises that every Finnish company is digital. The challenge in this development is that it is estimated that 60–70% of companies would be inoperative after one day without Internet access.

Limnéll divides security into four subareas:

Security is a feeling. The greatest battles will be fought in our minds.
Security is a culture. Finland’s security culture is stable and reliable.
Security is a reality. Here we have to face unpredictability and rate of change that surprises us.
Security is tolerance, resilience. How well are we able to deal with exceptional circumstances and disturbances?

‘Never bet on one horse’ was Limnéll’s message to the audience of Elinkeinofoorumi.

Studies pinpoint security as the most important value for Finns. The City of Espoo has declared its desire to be the most secure city in Finland.

Alongside security speech, Jarno Limnéll spoke about the global technology battle. It is about skilled professionals, investments, the creation of an international technology order and the fight against digital threats. Finland will not prevail in this competition all alone.

Business Espoo supports vitality in Espoo

The Elinkeinofoorumi business forum is the most important event of the year for Business Espoo. Consisting of seven actors, Business Espoo is a service network for the entrepreneurs in Espoo and neighbouring municipalities. The goal is to increase the number of jobs and vitality in Espoo by providing customer-oriented, high-quality and cost-effective business and entrepreneurial services.