Islamabad, 13 March 2023 (TDI): The Finland-Pakistan Business Council (FPBC) hosted the 10th edition of its legacy Finland Pakistan Business Summit 2023 in Islamabad.
This year’s summit focused particularly on extending collaboration in the energy and education sectors in order to enhance bilateral commerce, investment, and the sharing of technological experience for shared growth and development.
The summit was launched by the Ambassador of Finland to Pakistan, Hannu Ripatti, while the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi led an important session, ‘Future of Energy Landscape in Pakistan’.
Addressing the summit, Ambassador Hannu Ripatti expressed his satisfaction with the degree of business cooperation between Pakistan and Finland.
He stated that Pakistan may benefit from this cooperation for socioeconomic growth because Finland is the gateway to the EU market and has the vast technical experience to assist in the development of Pakistan’s commercial & education sectors.
Wille Eerola, Chairman of the Finland Pakistan Business Council and Honorary Consul General of Pakistan in Finland, also shared his opinions on the summit.
In this vein, he said, “Finland and Pakistan have friendly ties, further strengthened by their shared ambition for growth and development.
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This year, we are organizing the summit in Islamabad and Karachi to bring Finnish and Pakistani business communities together so they can discuss and explore opportunities for collaboration.”
It is pertinent to note that for more than a decade, the summit has served as a networking venue for the two countries’ corporate relations. The next summit is set to take place in Karachi later this week.
It has aided in the exploration of economic opportunities, the sharing of experience, and the use of the Finnish corridor by Pakistani enterprises to access the vast markets of the European Union and the Nordic region.
The participants at the event underlined the importance of replicating the Finnish model in increasing reliance on renewable energy as well as excellence in education, professional training, and gender equality for socioeconomic success.
They also stressed the importance of realigning Pakistan’s regulatory environment to enhance its energy & other major business sectors in order to encourage investment and the continuous transfer of innovative technologies and technical experience.
The summit was attended by significant business owners, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives from Pakistan, as well as more than 20 Finnish firms, the bulk of which were from the energy and education sectors.
The Finnish delegation expressed its delight over their ‘myth-busting’ Pakistan experience. They lauded Pakistan’s culinary delicacies, rich culture, and hospitality.
