Ghana-Finland forum set for May 31

A trade and cultural tour of Finland for Ghanaian captains of industry, service providers, and tourism practitioners will take place in Finland from next month.

The Ghana-Finland tour, which is being organised by PEW Events, a Ghanaian events management company, will be held from 31 May to 2 June, 2017.

The government of Nana Akufo-Addo has declared itself to be pro-business and is determined to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. The fair to Finland is meant to deepen interest in Ghana’s major business sectors for Finish investors who would like to do business in Ghana.

While in Finland, there will be Business-to-Business (B-2-B) meetings, match-making opportunities, new markets, trade, tourism and services discussions with Finnish captains of industry.

The trip is open to individuals from sectors such as textiles, agriculture, arts and tourism, oil and gas, energy, shipping and manufacturing, among others.

Finland has international trade contributing a third of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The European Union makes up 60 per cent of the total trade. The largest sector of the economy is services, at 66 per cent, followed by manufacturing and refining at 31 per cent. The country is home to Nokia, one of the world’s best known mobile phone brands.

As part of the trip, there is the possibility for participants to explore research collaboration, possibly doctoral exchange programmes: hydrology and clean tech research, mining technology – university visits can be organised both/or within Oulu and Helsinki Universities or Aalto University of Helsinki. Aalto University could also be of interest to the visitors interested in fashion as it is the leading national university for fine arts and design.

Key sectors that would be very fruitful for matching interests are clean technology, recycling technology, bio and solar energy production/waste management, water resources management, medical technology, forestry, automotive solutions for manufacturing, construction industry – one very lucrative idea could be to launch Scandinavian light structure construction models (which can be erected in a matter of weeks, very high quality, ultra-modern Nordic design) in Ghana, aquaculture can also be a possibility, as well as agriculture – the value chain of Finland agricultural processes is very mechanised which could be of interest to Ghanaians.

Major retail industry players could well be interested in talking to Ghanaian companies about exporting their products to Finland.

A highlight of the trip is the meeting with experts on using animal carcass and organic waste to generate electricity (this is crucial as Ghana produces tonnes of animal carcass and other organic refuse whose proper disposal is a challenge).

PEW events, a reputable event management firm, also organises corporate seminars, corporate fairs, the 1st International Power and Electricity Expo, and Made-in-Ghana Product fairs which have been held since 2015.