NordenBladet — Elina Pylkkänen has been appointed Permanent State Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment for a term of five years starting on 1 June 2021. The Government decided on the appointment on 15 April 2021.

Pylkkänen holds a PhD in Economics. She has been the Director of the Labour Institute for Economic Research since 2018. Prior to that, she worked as Financial Counselor at the Ministry of Finance in 2008–2018. She was previously a Senior Economist at the OECD in Paris and a visiting scholar at the University of Stanford. She has also worked as a senior researcher at STAKES (now known as the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) and as a senior specialist at the Ministry of Finance of Sweden in 2000–2007.

The post of Under-Secretary of State is new. The Under-Secretary of State assists the Permanent Secretary in the preparation and management of large-scale special projects and reforms, particularly those related to employment and labour market policy.A total of 27 applications were received for the position.

NordenBladet — On 15 April, the Government adopted a decree bringing into force an agreement between Finland and the People’s Republic of China on the establishment of a China Cultural Centre in Finland. Negotiations on the agreement lasted for several years and the agreement was signed in Beijing in autumn 2019.

Under the agreement, the China Cultural Centre is a non-profit cultural institute. China is responsible as a whole for establishing and organising the Centre. Finland does not incur any costs in relation to the agreement and it does not require the adoption of other legislation. The Cultural Centre must be established and managed in accordance with the legislation in force in Finland. This means it becomes a Finnish legal entity. Finland does not currently have any plans to establish a cultural centre in China, so the agreement only applies to the China Cultural Centre that will be established in Finland.

The purpose of the China Cultural Centre is to promote cultural cooperation between the two countries as well as mutual understanding and knowledge of Chinese culture in Finland. China determines the activities and programme of the Cultural Centre. Preliminary information suggests that the Centre might organise exhibitions, concerts, presentations and culinary courses.This agreement enters into force on 17 April 2021.

NordenBladet — Restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses must remain closed to customers until Sunday 18 April 2021 in regions where it is necessary to stop the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. The closure will end in North Savo on Friday 16 April 2021 because the epidemic situation there has improved.

Restaurants can open to customers throughout Finland on Monday 19 April 2021. However, they must observe temporary restrictions on opening hours, licensing hours, number of customers, use of premises by customers, and movement of customers in the premises.

Closure in force in areas where epidemic situation is the most seriousProvisions on the closure of restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses are laid down in the Act on Accommodation and Catering Operations. Under the Act, the Government must amend the decree on the regions that the closure applies to if closure in a given region is no longer necessary.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare issued its latest assessment of the epidemic situation in the regions on Wednesday 14 April 2021. Based on the assessment, the closure is no longer necessary in North Savo. For this reason, the Government amended the decree on the regions that the closure applies to on Thursday 15 April 2021.

Restaurants must be closed to customers in the following regions until Sunday 18 April 2021:
Uusimaa
Southwest Finland
Satakunta
Kanta-Häme
Pirkanmaa
Päijät-Häme
Kymenlaakso
South Karelia
South Savo
North Karelia
Central Finland
Ostrobothnia.

The following regions do not fall under the closure requirement: Åland, South Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, Central Ostrobothnia, Lapland, North Ostrobothnia and North Savo. Restaurants in these regions must comply with the restrictions laid down in the Communicable Diseases Act and in the regulations issued under it.

Restrictions on opening hours, licensing hours and number of customersAfter the closure ends, restrictions on food and beverage service businesses will continue based on the provisions of the Communicable Diseases Act and the Government Decree issued under it. The President of the Republic is expected to approve the amendments to the Communicable Diseases Act on Friday 16 April 2021. Following the approval of the Act, the Government can issue a decree laying down more detailed provisions on restrictions on food and beverage service businesses on Friday. These restrictions are due to enter into force on Monday 19 April 2021 when the closure ends.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will provide more information about the restrictions on restaurants on Friday 16 April 2021.Applications for closure compensation to be accepted from 12 MayRestaurants and other companies that have been shut down by law or order of an authority may be entitled to closure compensation. This new form of compensation applies to small and micro-sized enterprises that employ a maximum of 49 employees.

Applications for the closure compensation will be accepted from 12 May 2021. Companies can apply for the compensation at the State Treasury.Closure compensation for larger companies is under preparation. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is currently negotiating with the European Commission about the terms and maximum amount of support for large companies.

NordenBladet — The elections website of the Ministry of Justice, Electionsfinland.fi, now contains instructions for voters on safe voting in the municipal elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry has prepared the instructions in cooperation with the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

The purpose of the website is to provide easily understandable information on the special arrangements put in place to enable safe voting during COVID-19. Voters must wear a face mask or covering, use hand sanitiser and stay two metres away from others at the polling station. Election officials will monitor safety at the polling stations and advise voters on how to follow the instructions.

The website provides information on the verification of identity in connection with voting. Election officials may ask voters to briefly remove their face mask to verify their identity. There will be a protective screen between the official and the voter.Special measures have been planned to enable voters placed in quarantine by a doctor or having respiratory symptoms to vote. Voters can contact the central municipal election board of their municipality to ask about these special arrangements.

Video instructions available at Electionsfinland.fi
Instructions on safe voting are available on the Electionsfinland.fi website of the Ministry of Justice, on the elections-related social media accounts (on Twitter and Facebook) and as posters at the polling stations. Information is available in Finnish, Swedish, English and North Sámi.In addition, the Ministry of Justice has produced videos demonstrating how to vote at a polling station with protective screens while wearing a face mask. The videos are available on the Youtube channel of the Ministry of Justice in Finnish, Swedish and English.Instructions on safe voting during COVID-19 will also sent to all eligible voters together with the notice of right to vote. These instructions will be available in Finnish and Swedish.

Material is available for use by municipalities and the mediaMaterial related to safe voting during COVID-19 is available for use by municipalities and the media. Pre-made materials for social media and posters are available in the Government image bank.COVID-19 situation may vary across the countryIf the local health authorities issue stricter instructions on voting arrangements than the Ministry of Justice, they must be followed instead of the Ministry’s instructions.

NordenBladet — Instructions have now been created for the construction industry for assessing the risk of COVID-19 infections. According to the instructions, the main contractor of the construction site is responsible for having a general risk assessment made. Everyone working at the construction site must comply with the assessment-based measures. In addition, other employers involved in the construction site assess the risks of their operations.

The instructions provide guidelines that support risk assessment. They focus on the prevention of employees’ exposure and what to do in the event of a possible exposure or infection or when an occupational disease is suspected.The instructions are intended for all construction industry workplaces where employees may be exposed to COVID-19.

“It is important to keep the wheels of the construction industry turning also under exceptional circumstances. During the first months of this year, COVID-19 infections have occurred at construction sites. We must now work together to turn this trend and to make sure that the virus does not spread at construction sites. The instructions that are now published will help construction industry employers identify places where risks may occur and act in a responsible manner,” says Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen.

The instructions have been created by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s specialists together with the construction industry organizations and unions (the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT, the Finnish Construction Trade Union, Trade Union Pro and RAKLI), the Regional State Administrative Agency and the Ministry of the Environment.

Risk assessment applies to all situationsConstruction industry employers must assess the personnel’s risk of COVID-19 infection at work and in other workplace situations, such as during breaks.

When preparing instructions, everyone working in the area of the construction site as well as different work situations must be taken into account and, whenever necessary, the expertise of occupational health services must be used when it comes to risk groups. “Occupational health service personnel are experts in work-related health and safety. This expertise must be put into good use, especially now during the COVID-19 epidemic. Occupational health services provide support and guidance for risk assessment and for arranging healthy working conditions,” notes Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen.

In the event of an infection, the risk assessment must be updated – infection clusters may also damage reputationIt is advisable to prepare instructions for initiating the tracking of those exposed to coronavirus at the workplace. If there are any suspicions of an exposure at a construction industry workplace, they should be addressed to local or regional infectious disease authorities.

“A potential cluster of infections damages the reputation of the construction site and the entire company. Closing a workplace becomes costly for all parties and causes long-term damage to reputation,” says the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s Director General Antti Koivula. “The significance of the subcontracting chain for reputation should also be understood. The brand and responsibility are important elements in the management of subcontracting chains.

”In the event of a COVID-19 infection, the workplace’s risk assessment must be updated and the protective measures must be improved, if necessary. During an official quarantine, the employee must not go to work. An employee officially placed in quarantine is entitled to sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease.

Communications should also cover non-working time
The main contractor of the construction site is responsible for COVID-19 safety communications. Each employer is responsible for providing induction training for its personnel and ensuring the instructions are complied with. The employer should encourage employees to manage COVID-19 risks also outside the workplace and the working time, in shared transport and shared accommodation, for instance. The key issues are keeping a safe distance, practising good hand hygiene and wearing surgical masks, just as at the workplace.

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s guides and posters, such as the “Stop coronavirus infections!” poster, available in multiple languages, can also be used in communications.InstructionsCOVID-19 risk assessment instructions for the construction industry (in Finnish, English translation will be published later nex week)

NordenBladet — How can the United States transition to fossil fuel-free transport? What can the US learn from the climate solutions proposed by the Nordic countries and in which areas can we work more together? These issues will be discussed at a climate webinar between the US and the Nordic countries on 15 April 2021. Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka will speak at the event.

Transport is the top source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. In March, President Joe Biden published a comprehensive infrastructure proposal, Build Back Better. The proposed investments in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure could create jobs and decrease air pollution. At the same time, they would speed up the transition towards climate neutrality.

The webinar will discuss what the United States could learn from the sustainable mobility solutions offered in the Nordic countries. In the webinar, the participants will discuss the measures taken by both countries and companies to accelerate fossil fuel-free transport. The event is organised by the World Resources Institute and the embassies of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland to the United States. It is part of the US Climate Action Week programme.

The other speakers at the webinar ‘Race to a Fossil Fuel-Free Transportation Sector’ on 15 April 2021 at 10:30 AM (EDT) include Polly Trottenberg, US Deputy Secretary of Transportation, Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway; Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources of Iceland; Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO, Volvo Group; Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO for Mærsk-McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping; and Everett Eissenstat, Senior Vice President of Global Public Policy, General Motors. The webinar will be open to everyone.

Finland has a partnership with the state of Michigan on clean technologies. The fields of cooperation include the development of intelligent transport solutions and battery technology.

Finland’s aim is to halve the greenhouse gas emissions of domestic transport by 2030 and achieve zero emissions from transport by 2045. A roadmap for fossil fuel-free transport has been prepared in Finland and the Government will decide on the measures to reduce transport-related emissions in spring 2021.

NordenBladet — Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will make a virtual Team Finland visit to Sweden on 15 April 2021. The visit is intended to intensify trade relations between Finnish and Swedish companies, particularly in the food and beverage industries, the textile industry and the sustainable healthcare sectors.

The coronavirus pandemic has opened up new opportunities for trade between Finland and Sweden. Of Finland’s key trade partners, exports towards Sweden have fallen the least. Finnish export companies now invest primarily in neighbouring markets.

Finland and Sweden seek sustainable growth
Both countries strive for socially and ecologically sustainable economic growth. Their cooperation is now set to discover innovative business solutions in support of circular economy.

“The aim of this virtual visit is to create cooperation models and discover sustainable business solutions. Sweden has just published a circular economy action plan introducing a 100-point scoring system, while Finland has in place a new circular economy strategy under the current Government Programme. I believe that these policy frameworks will offer interesting opportunities and support for B2B cooperation, prompting business development and new sustainable solutions,” Minister Lintilä says.

Sweden is Finland’s closest trade and economic partnerSweden can act as an efficient springboard to global markets for Finnish companies. During the visit, a large number of companies will have an opportunity to promote their exports in the food and beverage industries, the textile industry and the sustainable healthcare sectors.

“There is now a global demand for Finnish expertise and Finnish solutions. Initiating exports in these fields with Sweden is a good opportunity to learn about international business, and this knowhow can later be expanded to other parts of Europe and to the rest of the world. I visited Stockholm last week, and there is now a mutual resolve to do things together because international competition is so tough,” says Minister Skinnari.

Some 40 Finnish companies will participate in the event. They include Oats by Kinnusen Mylly Oy, Hartwall, Helsinki Mills, Helsinki Wildfoods Oy, Kiantama Oy, Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas Oy, Porokylän Leipomo, Real Snacks Oy, Suomisen Maito Oy, Tenu Ventures Ltd, TwoDads Ltd, Weekend Snacks Ltd, Coveross Oy, Emmy Clothing Company, NordShield, Oikiat Design Oy, RePack, Touchpoint, Rester Ltd, Woodly, Abomics Oy, ARKCON, BeingHealthy Oy, BusinessOulu, Coronaria, Envera Oy, Futurice, Granlund Oy, Helvar, Itula, Medanets, Medixine, Megical, Monidot, Newlcon Oy, Nukute Ltd, Secapp, Timmi Software Ltd, Tridify, and University of Oulu.  Team Finland is a network of public sector actors that provide internationalisation services to Finnish companies. The network provides businesses with a smooth service chain, ranging from advice services to financing, and organises international export promotion visits. Participants from the Swedish side include buying agents, members of Swedish chambers of commerce and representatives of various organisations.

NordenBladet — Finland’s development cooperation expenditure in 2020 amounted to EUR 1 119 million. This represented 0.47 per cent of Finland’s gross national income (GNI). Last year, the total amount of the exclusive ODA budget item administered by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was EUR 708.4 million.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its preliminary data on development cooperation in 2020 today, on 13 April 2021.

NordenBladet — The Annual General Meeting of the Traffic Management Company Fintraffic Ltd elected a new Board of Directors for the company on 25 March 2021. Doctor of Engineering Tero Ojanperä, Professor of Practice at the Aalto University and board professional, was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

In addition, the CEO of FCG Finnish Consulting Group Oy, M. Sc Mari Puoskari, and CGI Suomi Oy’s Director Karri Salminen were elected as new members of the Board of Directors.The old members of the Board of the Directors LL.M Juha Majanen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance; M.A Kirsi Nuotto, SVP, Human Resources at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; LL.M Teemu Penttilä, Director of the Administration Policy Department in the Ministry of Defence and M.Sc. (Econ.) Seija Turunen, board professional, will continue as the members of the Board of Directors.

The Traffic Management Company Fintraffic Ltd is a wholly-state owned special assignment company which is the parent company of the state’s traffic control and management group. The company operates under the ownership steering of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The group provides and develops traffic control and management services in all traffic forms – on land, in the air and at sea.

Opportunities for new business operations
The Fintraffic group has a special task: collect, manage and utilise traffic control-related data and offer this data equally to all other parties. The aim is to create opportunities for the new business operation in the markets which is based on automation and more comprehensive utilisation of data and new business models.Bringing all forms of traffic control structurally together is globally unique. This creates enormous potential for new ways of data utilisation as well as for the creation of global traffic data business.

The Board of Directors of the group is expected to invest in the prevention of disturbances in all the current modes of transport, but also in creating and introducing new activities to globally scalable markets with other Finnish companies and paying attention to the future needs of domestic users. The objective is that traffic control would be a tight entity in which individual modes of transport would nevertheless have their own roles required by their special features.

By adding new members to the Board of Directors, the Ministry of Transport and Communications aims to further promote this development.

Towards the world’s safest, smoothest and most environmentally friendly traffic
Fintraffic’s vision is to create the world’s safest, smoothest and most environmentally friendly traffic in Finland.

The groups’ core task is to produce traffic control and management services which are essential to society as well as to the economy and authorities, which will ensure smooth and safe traffic and the reliability of traffic control and management in all situations.

Another essential task of the company is to provide, maintain and develop the traffic control and management services to meet the needs of the defence and security authorities to the extent justified by their statutory duties. Functional interaction and cooperation with the defence and safety governance play a key role in the group’s operations.

A pioneer of corporate responsibility
The most recent Government resolution on the ownership policy (8 April 2020) strongly emphasises climate change mitigation, utilisation of digitalisation and corporate responsibility.

Therefore, the Ministry wants to also highlight Fintraffic’s strong leadership in the corporate responsibility work. In accordance with the Government resolution on ownership policy, the state owner expects that the company, for example, integrates corporate responsibility in its remuneration policies and ambitious climate responsibility in its work. Furthermore, the state owner requires that the company takes initiative and implements good personnel policy practices.

The state, as the owner, has committed itself to complying with good governance and the Limited Companies Act in accordance with the resolution as well as in the future.