Further financing for maritime industry growth programme for 2016

The Team Finland growth programme, entitled 'Maritime and Offshore from Finland', is designed to help Finnish companies get involved in international projects in the industry.

The goals of the growth programme are a 10% increase in the turnover of Finland's maritime cluster, a 10% increase in its exports, the creation of 400 jobs and three foreign investments in Finland. The implementation of the programme is intended to take place in 2015-2017. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy has just granted EUR 516,000 to Finpro Oy for the implementation of the programme. The financing for the programme's first year of operation was EUR 956,000.

"The strength of the Finnish maritime industry's expertise is its diversity. The industry is particularly strong in cruise liners, ice-breakers, ice class vessels, subcontracting work, and design and system deliveries for these types of vessels. From Finland's perspective, global prospects in the industry are promising and a lot more positive than it seemed a few years ago," says Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn.

Finnish companies have significant opportunities for growth: cruise liner construction is experiencing a boom time, renovation work activity for cruise vessels is at a high level, cruise travel is growing in Asia and the USA, and construction is very active in arctic technology and ice-breakers. Innovations in the industry include new maritime applications developed by various companies including Finnish businesses in the areas of ICT, big data, Internet of Things and satellite monitoring.

The challenges these companies are encountering include complex global supply chains, where it can be hard for Finnish companies to find projects, clients and decision makers. With the help of the programme, many of the companies seeking to participate in these projects can get involved and gain additional turnover from the international market. The growth programme has 14 target markets, of which the main markets are Germany, Norway, France, China, Japan and Russia.

According to Finpro Oy's assessment, the total global value of new ship orders, including preliminary contracts, that can be supplied by the Finnish industry will increase to more than EUR 70 billion over the next 10 years. New ship orders and modification work on ships also provide significant opportunities for the Finnish maritime industry and its subcontractor chain. This industry is one of the few export industries whose business operations in Russia have continued despite the sanctions.

Inquiries:

Jannika Ranta, Special Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs, tel. +358 50 340 2250

Janne Peltola, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 29 506 4132

Natalia Härkin, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 29 504 9016