Lintilä leaves for USA to meet key players in economy

Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä is scheduled to leave Helsinki for USA today on an official visit to New York and Washington from September 30 to October 7.

The purpose of the trip is to hold general discussions with different parties on the transformation of the economy, trade policy and topics of current relevance to Finland, such as artificial intelligence and digitalization, said a government press release.

During his trip, the Minister will meet a large number of players in the US economy, ranging from companies to public sector organisations. The plans include visits to the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve, investment bank Goldman Sachs and credit ratings company Moody’s, where the discussions will focus on the global and US economies, among other things.

In Washington, the Minister will meet representatives from the US Department of Commerce and from other areas of government, as well as representatives of the National Association of Manufacturers. The main themes of the discussions will be economic and trade policy, artificial intelligence and the challenges of robotisation for the labour market.

The Finnish delegation also includes Jyri Häkämies, Director General of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), Jarkko Eloranta, President of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), Antti Palola, Chairman of the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK), and Sture Fjäder, President of the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava).

The Minister will also visit Google, General Electric and Pfizer, where he will hear more about developments in smart grids and smart technologies, for example. The minister will also visit Nordic Innovation House, established in September to promote cooperation among Nordic start-ups in the United States.

Artificial intelligence is one of the key projects of the Government. In May, Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä appointed a steering group to prepare a proposal for Finland’s artificial intelligence programme. The Government’s aim is that Finland will be a leader in the application of artificial intelligence.