Mr Leif Fagernäs Director General, Confederation of Finnish Industries EK Russian Economic and Financial Forum in Finland Hotel Crowne Plaza, Helsinki November 2006

EK/tl EK represents The entire private sector and companies of all sizes 43 branch associations About 16,000 member companies, of which 96 % are SMEs Over 70 % of Finland’s GDP Over 95 % of Finland’s exports About 950,000 employees Unparalleled knowledge and information on Finnish business Natural partner for the government

EK/tl Unice EK in issues related to business with Russia CommissionRSPP FI-RU Economic Commission, RU ministries Ministries and other Finnish authorities Direct and indirect contacts with Finnish, EU and Russian authorities and business organisations Bilateral economic Commission, UNICE Russia Network, cooperation with RSPP, IRT Memos on issues to be tackled Participation in committees and Working groups EK Departments Member federations

EK/tl Finland’s Competitiveness 2nd according to the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 10th on the IMD 2006 World Competitiveness Scoreboard 14th in the World Bank Doing Business in 2006

EK/tl

Economic policy promoting competitiveness Political stability and good economic performance Least corrupted together with Iceland and New Zealand High level of education 3.5 percent of the GDP to R&D Venture capital funding made available Functioning labour market Preparedness for reforms

EK/tl Tasks to be tackled Early preparation for the consequences of ageing population More investment in higher productivity and infrastructure Securing well-functioning competition policy Better regulation Sufficient investment in infrastructure More working years

EK/tl Examples of Measures to be taken Earlier graduation and smaller drop out percentage More support for speedy start up of production and marketing of products based on new innovations More flexible transfer of family company ownership

EK/tl Stock of Direct Investments, EUR billion

EK/tl Тrade between Finland and Russia in 1992-June 2006 in mln. euro +25% +22% Source: Board of Customs +32% +23% +13% +23%

СПАСИБО ЗА ВНИМАНИЕ!