Government resolution on entrepreneurship strengthens entrepreneurship strategy of Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government
Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government issued a resolution on entrepreneurship on 21 April 2022. By investing in a strong entrepreneurship policy Finland can diversify its business structure and create opportunities for sustainable growth for companies of all sizes. The resolution will be in effect from 2022 to 2027.
The government resolution on entrepreneurship is based on the Entrepreneurship Strategy included in Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government Programme. The vision and purpose of the resolution is to enhance companies’ trust to employ people, develop business and invest in Finland, and to grow and become more international. The vision also aims to increase trust in Finland as a good place to become an entrepreneur. In addition, the aim of the vision is to make Finland even more attractive so that foreign employees and students are willing to seek employment or run a business in Finland.
In a turbulent operating environment, it is important to identify longer-term strategic policies and practical measures to support the diversification of economic structure and to encourage SMEs to renew and grow sustainably. Long-term policies are particularly important in the recovery from crises, as low investment levels and challenges in the availability of labour may slow down economic growth more than in the reference countries. It is therefore important to facilitate longer-term structural renewal and transition to new types of work and business as well as internationalisation. The operating environment for entrepreneurship must support and encourage all kinds of SMEs to renew themselves, promote new entrepreneurship and attract foreign investments and companies to Finland.
The Government has an important role in supporting the development of the operating environment for entrepreneurship so that the business and economic structure will renew and become more diversified. The resolution aims to:
- Increase companies’ opportunities for growth by accelerating sustainable growth, employment and renewal, with special attention paid to responding to the dual challenge related to the digital green transition.
- Promote an increase in the number of companies offering jobs and in the number of medium-sized enterprises, and drive the internationalisation of SMEs
- Increase the attractiveness of Finland as a location for foreign companies and investments and companies established by foreign companies
- Ensure the long-term competitiveness of the operating environment for SMEs.
- As regards taxation, support the assigned objectives of economic and employment policy, as well as international competitiveness and the vitality of Finland as a whole
- Streamline regulation, permit procedures and the functioning of the markets as well as ensure a new start for entrepreneurs
- Help SMEs and particularly new entrepreneurs build their business skills and networks and encourage SME entrepreneurs to develop their skills throughout their careers
- Take the special features of SMEs into account in labour legislation
- Increase customer focus and ease-of-use in public business services
- Ensure access to financing by developing the financial markets
- Seek solutions to improve labour market matching and to ensure the availability of skilled labour for companies. Strengthen the knowledge management of SMEs and skills of employers and recruiters to ensure the availability of skilled labour.
- Enable flexible transitions between employment and entrepreneurship, make regulation simpler and more predictable, and provide better social protection for entrepreneurs. Improve the wellbeing of entrepreneurs.
- Promote conditions for successful ownership changes.
- Increase intersectoral cooperation and dialogue with interest groups beyond government terms.
For the implementation of the resolution, it is important to ensure intersectoral cooperation and coordination by agreeing on cooperation structures and operating models. The resolution proposes the establishment of an advisory board for entrepreneurship, which would be a key cooperation structure for implementation and monitoring. In addition, a regular situation picture on entrepreneurship will be produced during the implementation to monitor the development of entrepreneurship based on certain monitoring indicators.
The Government Resolution on entrepreneurship is based on the entrepreneurship strategy: The entrepreneurship strategy aims to strengthen entrepreneurship in Finland
Entrepreneurship strategy of Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government strives to build companies’ confidence in the fact that Finland is a good place to invest, to start a company, to offer employment, and to build a business. Another objective of the strategy is to make Finland more attractive to foreign workforce.
Several practical measures to address the challenges experienced by entrepreneurs are proposed for each of the eight themes included in the strategy. The themes are:
- Predictable and competitive corporate taxation
- Competence and the availability of skilled labour to support business growth
- Encouraging growth-oriented business
- Reducing excessive regulation, simplifying service processes, impact assessment and competition policy
- Entrepreneurship as a driver of regional development
- Providing new beginnings, security and wellbeing for entrepreneurs
- Developed and customised entrepreneur services for entrepreneurs to address specific needs and situations
- Co-ordination and phenomenom-driven approach in promoting entrepreneurship
The strategy is based on Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government Programme.
More information
Ministerial Adviser Jaana Lappi - jaana.lappi(at)gov.fi