President approves Business Finland Act

President Sauli Niinistö on Thursday approved the Act on Business Finland which enters into force on 1 January 2018, said an official press release.

The new act will change Tekes into the Business Finland innovation funding agency and Finpro into the Business Finland company. Business Finland will have a staff of around 600 persons and nearly 40 offices abroad. It will also operate in 15 different regions in Finland.

The new Business Finland will make public business services more effective. There will be one operator providing companies with services in internationalisation, innovation funding, foreign investment and travel.

“One operator can better consider the entire lifecycle of companies’ regeneration, growth and internationalisation and remove overlapping activities. The goal is an unbroken chain of services from the development of products, services and business models to their introduction into the market,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

The Business Finland innovation funding agency serving as a state authority and the Business Finland company responsible for client functions will form an operational whole under a unified management. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will be responsible for the performance guidance of the agency and define the strategic performance targets and resources for Business Finland as a whole. The agency will exercise ownership steering of the company, while the company’s operations will be mainly based on a service agreement it has with the agency.

The agency will be responsible for strategic management, official duties and ownership steering of the companies under its management. The company will plan and implement research, development and innovation programmes and provide information and guidance on the EU’s research and innovation activities.

The new Business Finland will support the government’s objectives to clarify and simplify the business service system, foster a global spread of the Finnish innovation system, double the export volumes of SMEs by 2020 and support the counties’ growth services with a strong national-level operator that promotes business growth and internationalisation. The merger also aims to allocate human resources towards the client interface and operations abroad.