Minister Lintilä to visit Canada and the United States to promote the battery industry
Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will visit Canada and the United States from 1 to 6 March 2020. The aim of the visit is to promote Finnish mining and battery companies’ exports and establishment abroad. The growing popularity of electric vehicles opens up major global business opportunities for the battery industry.
“Adaptation to climate change creates opportunities for companies to produce new ideas and solutions that support the move towards a carbon neutral society. Finland is rich in many minerals needed in the battery manufacturing industry. Finland’s other assets in this competition include strong chemical industry clusters, cheap electricity with low emissions, and a stable operating environment,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.
World's largest mining event in Canada
On 1–3 March, Minister Lintilä will attend the World's Premier Mineral Exploration & Mining Convention, PDAC 2020, held in Toronto. A number of Finnish technology and service companies will display their products at the event.
A meeting of mining ministers, hosted by Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan will also be held in Toronto. In addition, Minister Lintilä will meet Sweden’s Minister of Business, Industry and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and representatives of the Canadian battery cluster.
Canada is one of the key actors in the mining sector; Canadian companies are engaged in the mining business in different parts of the world, and the country is a key provider of funding for mineral exploration worldwide. Because of similarities in the Finnish and Canadian bedrock, Canadian companies are potential partners for Finnish technology and service businesses and research organisations.
Maritime transport, cleantech and battery industry on display in the United States
On 4–6 March, Minister Lintilä will travel to the United States and visit the State of Michigan. The aim is to promote Finnish companies’ exports and foster their establishment abroad as well as to strengthen cooperation in R&D in the fields of intelligent maritime transport, cleantech and the battery industry.
The United States is Finland's most important non-EU trading partner and a key target of investments. Michigan is an important centre for the automotive industry in the United States.
Minister Lintilä will have a meeting with the Governor of the State of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. Together with the accompanying Team Finland delegation, he will visit some US companies, for example Ford and General Motors. Governor Whitmer and Minister Lintilä will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the cleantech sector between Finland and Michigan.
The following companies and organisations will participate in the Team Finland visit to Michigan: Aalto University, ICEYE, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University), Merinova/Energy Vaasa, Prizztech, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Wärtsilä.
Team Finland is a network of public sector actors providing internationalisation services to Finnish companies. The network offers companies an unbroken chain of services from advice to financing and organises international export promotion visits.
Inquiries:
Antti Siika-aho, Special Adviser to Minister Lintilä, tel. +358 29 504 7228
Nina Alatalo, Special Adviser to the Minister (International Affairs), Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 7171
Riikka Aaltonen, Senior Officer, Mineral Policy, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 506 4216
Riikka Astala, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 7057