NordenBladet — On Tuesday 17 April, The King held an audience with India’s Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. The Crown Princess also took part in the audience.
During his visit to Sweden, the Prime Minister also held discussions with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and met Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg and Swedish business leaders during a visit to Stockholm City Hall.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit also included a Nordic-Indian summit at the Grand Hôtel, attended by all the Nordic heads of government.
Featured image: The King and The Crown Princess received India’s Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi in Princess Sibylla’s Apartments at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet — On Wednesday 11 April, the Global Child Forum 2018 was held at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. More than 300 participants from around the world came together to discuss children’s rights issues.
This was the tenth Global Child Forum on children’s rights. The participants represented global businesses, financial institutions, the UN, academia and the Swedish Government.
The day began with The King welcoming the participants with a speech in which he emphasised the fact that the children’s rights perspective needs to be a feature of all operations:
“Business impacts on children. And therefore, we must let children impact on business. Leaders of the corporate and finance sectors are in a unique position to protect and advance children’s rights.”
The King also emphasised the importance of cooperation between different sectors:
“For children’s rights to be truly realised, collaboration is necessary. Companies, governments and civil society must work together, side by side.”
Speakers during the day included CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact Lise Kingo, Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, whose Missing Chapter Foundation works to give children a voice in society, and Minister for Enterprise Mikael Damberg.
Two young Indonesian representatives from the Time to Talk! organisation, Fauza Ananda and Ruth Kesia, spoke about their experiences of child labour.
The day concluded with a speech by The Crown Princess about how the UN’s 17 global sustainable development goals, for which The Crown Princess is an advocate, are all linked to children’s rights.
“Goal number one, no poverty, is for the child who is married off because her parents can’t afford to say no. […] Goal number 16, peace, justice and strong institutions, is for all the children whose childhoods are taken away from them by violence and persecution. I could go on. But I think you see my point: that all Global Goals are, in fact, children’s rights goals.”
The Global Child Forum
The Global Child Forum was initiated by the Royal Family in 2009, and is an independent platform that brings together world-leading players for in-depth dialogue and to raise awareness of children’s rights. The aim is to identify solutions to the most pressing issues when it comes to businesses’ opportunities to influence children’s rights.
One of the speakers at the conference was Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Princess Sofia speaks with participants during the round-table discussions. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Prince Daniel takes part in one of the Global Child Forum’s round-table discussions, or ‘Action Labs’. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Featured image: The King and Queen with Ruth Kesia and Fauza Ananda from Indonesia, who represented the organisation Time to Talk! at the Global Child Forum 2018. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet – the City of Tartu Rowing Club SAK Tartu (Sõudespinning Estonia) member Hanna-Liisa Ennet (38) performed a world record result in the beginning of April, completing the indoor rowing ultradistance 1000 km – an accomplishment that in Estonian indoor rowing history has been achieved just once before by the Estonian sportsmen-tandem (athletes Rait Merisaar and Rainer Saad) – thereby being the one female rower in Estonia ever to have completed this extreme distance in a limited timeframe and furthermore, to have completed the distance individually as opposed to tandem, rowing the entire distance solo without shifts.
„The leading motivational prerequisite to cover the 1000 km distance is the person’s inner drive to do so. Once you have the necessary motivation, you just need to develop the habit of being seated on the erg, catching one meter after another – adapting your muscular and skeletal apparatus and advancing the overall endurance of the system. It is important to choose the optimal pace and setting, and distributing the work load timewise and muscle group engagement wise,” says ultrarower Hanna-Liisa Ennet to NordenBladet.ee.
„Completion of the Million Meter world record row is definitely the biggest and most exciting event in my life so far. The experience is rendered especially unique in the light that the international community of such „crazy” ultra rowers is very narrow and there are just a few who have successfully completed this particular challenge. The Million Meter community is small but supercool! Hereby I have to admit that it is difficult to achieve anything significant without a great team of allies – I have been lucky to have a great team in this enterprise and I wish to thank all the support team members for being there in order to help, supervise and encourage as well as just being there beside me,” added Ennet.
Who: Hanna-Liisa Ennet (38yrs) When: Monday, 2nd April 2018, 02.00 am until Monday, 9th April 2018, 01.00 am What: Individual Million Meters on Concept2 Indoor Rower Supervised by: Rait Merisaar, Rowing Club SAK Tartu Category: F30-39 Hwt
Excerpts from Hanna-Liisa Ennet’s Million Meter sports journal:
The idea of completing an ultradistance emerged perhaps in November last year, when our Rowing Club boss, coach and world record holder Rait Merisaar forwarded me a story about a recent individual Million Meter world record row, written down in a fascinating style by the ultra distance indoor rower David Plumb. On the one hand the story was of course extraordinary from the point of view of the accomplishment, and on the other hand the text itself was very enjoyable. So it happened that I read the story repeatedly until I started to wonder if I myself might actually be capable of accomplishing something like that, too.
By the end December last year I had been entertaining the idea for a while, in January I already took concrete steps to start moving towards achieving this goal – I participated in the Virtual Team Challenge and covered the distance of circa a thousand kilometres within 31 days. However, my target was something bigger. I wished to cover 1000 km in a narrow time frame. In February we had conversations with the coach about the optimal rowing schedule options and within February and the beginning of March we had a solid plan and detailed schedule on the table.
The ambitious plan (Plan A) was to row 1000 km in seven days. Counting calendar days it actually took a little bit of the eighth, too, but if we count start time then the assignment to cover 1000 km was completed quite exactly within seven days.
The million meters total was eventually built up from 21 km units: morning sessions comprised 3 half marathons and evening sessions comprised 4 half marathons. A half marathon is 21097m in distance and it normally would take up to 2 hours to row one (my times are mostly 1:40 … 1:50). the Million Meter schedule had foreseen seven halfies to be completed every day – except for Day 4 when the schedule had foreseen half the working load, and Day 1 when the schedule had foreseen 8 half marathons (4 full marathons) during the day. When doing longer distances it is predictable that the times deviate a bit from one’s usual standards, since the pace of rowing 1000 km (47 half marathons) cannot remain the same as it is when you pop in the gym for just one half marathon with fresh and relaxed muscles.
The start time was 02.00 am on April 2, 2018. From then on the start times were 03.00 am every day. By the end of Day 1 I was planning to cover 168 km, by the end of Day 2 I was planning to cover 315 km, by the end of Day 3 I was planning to cover 462 km, by the end of Day 4 I was planning to cover 546 km, by the end of Day 5 I was planning to cover 693 km, by the end of Day 6 I was planning to cover 840 km and by the end of Day 7 I was planning to cover the full distance 1000 km. I was able to stick to the plan during the entire week, therefore it didn’t scare me for once that it might perhaps turn out necessary to reschedule the row in the middle of the week, or that it might turn out inevitable to discontinue at some point. It occurred just once that we had a serious 10-minute dispute and discussion with the supervisor about how to proceed with the plan, since towards the end of Day 3 the day’s final 21km unit was lagging behind schedule. I had been wondering to myself whether it were reasonable to build in some modifications to the week’s plan. However, the plan remained exactly as it had been printed out before Day 1, thanks to the experience and convincing arguments from the supervisor Rait Merisaar – so I proceeded by covering the final unit that same night and never brought up the question of possible rowing schedule modifications later that week.
Still, there was this one exception concerning the final day, when the starting time 03.00 am was postponed 1,5 hours due to falling asleep later the previous evening – I went to sleep at around midnight and didn’t wake until half past 3 am; besides, yet an additional delay in the starting time was due to my wrists and fingers – after having rowed many hundreds of kilometres my hands had become spastic and numb at the same time so that freshly after waking I couldn’t get them anywhere near fine working order before a 30-minute stretching and stimulating massage.
The most grievous point was the one day before it all began. The previous week had dashed by, full of preparations, always in a hurry, getting everything ready, thinking it all through, purchasing the final products. Lunchtime was gone before I noticed and instead of building up the energy reserve I lost a few kilos – due to involuntarily skipping meals and permanently rushing and perhaps worrying more than usual. Two days before the start I was also supposed to refrain from training, so I didn’t move as much as usually and as a result the system reacted to these interruptions: I developed a slight fever and had a running nose. Both manifestations I attribute to performance anxiety and therefore I didn’t contemplate any modifications or trade-offs to the rowing schedule.
—
During the first week of April I completed individual million meters (1000 km) on the erg. Indoor rowing ultra distances have earlier been pushed just once by Estonian sportsmen – by the tandem Rait Merisaar and Rainer Saad. The extreme distance is a strain for the body as well as the mind, assuming preparations and planning, and also quite a bit of courage to choose the road less travelled, to put it figuratively.
Among the more interesting questions for me about this eneterprise is the question of motivation: why would one choose to spend an entire week seated on the erg, pulling the handle? It could perhaps be thrilling to spend an hour in the gym, or to train two hours, ten hours, maybe even as long as 24 hours – but why remain on the erg for a week?
One option to answer this is to ask back: why not?
Why wouldn’t you want to challenge yourself with a task more difficult than the average and why wouldn’t you wish to learn your boundaries and your possible reactions in extreme situations? When facing a strange and voluminous task we oftentimes exaggerate the importance of the task and frustrate ourselves with mere thoughts about it, not acting upon it. Looking back it often happens that the enterprises that used to seem weighty at first somehow later seem quite ordinary or at least sufficiently manageable and the discrepancy between perceiving the magnitude of that what is still ahead and what has already passed is the obstacle keeping us back from trying new things, dreaming big, and planning accordingly. We tend to automatically put the label „Of great magnitude and risk” to a task, instead of dividing the assignment into building blocks and milestones, and getting things done „one day at a time”, not being excessively disturbed by the volume of the entire enterprise along the way.
For me personally, besides the rowing part itself, the planning of the million meters row was equally exciting. One of my role models, the successful British Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave has emphasized the benefits of visualization: when getting ready for a competition it is equally important – besides proceeding with the regular training routine – to imagine the situation of the competition and be mentally in the process of the competition in full detail. For example: to visualize having been seated on the erg for the entire day, for two days, for three days – what kind of thoughts I might be having, what kind of desires, what kind of mood, what I might like to eat, what I might wish to do during the breaks. Once I have these answers ready in advance I will have all the time uniquely for focussing on the task of covering the distance. Also, by excluding possible surprises the level of anxiety and fright would be lower, knowing that there is no significant obstacle potentially impeding the accomplishment of the enterprise or perhaps even coercing me to stop.
The preparation period was actually very brief, yet thanks to the pressing urge that overwhelmed me, a practical action plan materialized and over these few months I also pulled myself together to the best emotional and physical condition or quite close to that. I also managed to get ready with the logistics and the technical preliminaries. January had been the month of another challenge, so in February I mostly took it easy and rather than tiring myself more, tried to monitor my individual peculiarities of recovery, keeping in mind that the end of an enormous effort is not the finish line but instead the end of the recovery phase. I visited the sports doctor in order to have my health checked and to avoid possible hazards – the test showed wonderful results and that added to my self-confidence and pleasant excitement concerning the project. In the beginning of March I trained more intensely after the transition period, towards the end of March continued with the usual training routine, aiming to save energy and maintain a balance between fitness and fatigue. A week before the Big Row I took a holiday from work, to peacefully ponder the rowing schedule and the week’s agenda, to aquire and own it, and attain readiness to contribute the maximum to this goal, knowing that if everything goes as planned I would be enjoying the fruits of the work in a week’s time. Early enough I had already prepared many pairs of sporting kits – training shirts and leggings, sports shoes, etc. Also I had packed an exhaustive first aid suitcase for any possible complaint (and didn’t use it), I had the drinking bottles and sports drinks all ready and the food list compiled.
Two days before the start I catered the meals for the week. The amount of food was plenty and so there was at once one worry less: at least I wouldn’t be hungry during the week! Since I had carefully planned my healthy meals during the preparation period, eating at least one warm meal every day, including meat and dairy products, then during the Million Meter row I had intended to kind of take advantage of that preparation. During the million meter row I mainly consumed liquids, mostly sports drinks. During one half marathon (21097m) I usually consumed about 500ml of liquids. During the breaks I also preferred fluid food – strawberry/banana protein drinks, rhubarb kissel. Not once during that week did I crave for the salty or the normal food – I only ate tiny bits out of a sense of duty. Regarding all the extreme physical activity I wouldn’t have been able to eat an entire plateful at a time anyway.
Very special thanks: Rait Merisaar – for preparations, good advice, and being an example
The Million Meters support team: Rait Merisaar, Piret Väljaots, Anneli ja Jüri Ennet, Liisi Toom, Ardi Sažko, Marian Hiire, Eve Külasalu, Rachel Kõllo, Maris Kaurov, Vahur Soosaar
Also, my acknowldgements to people who have earlier and in various ways inspired me and have been my idols, friends, training partners, companions and role models in sports: Olympic gold medalist Sir Steve Redgrave, David Plumb, Ian Holmes, Tiina Kapten, Rainer Saad, Markel Pärnsalu, Kevin Kriisa, Aleksei Lipintsov, Andres Siiman.
NordenBladet — On Monday 9 April, a diplomatic reception was held at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. A few times a year, newly-appointed ambassadors and their spouses are given the opportunity to meet The King and The Queen during a reception at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. The Crown Princess and Prince Daniel also took part in Monday’s diplomatic reception.
The first time newly-appointed ambassadors meet The King is when they submit their credentials at a formal audience. At the diplomatic reception, they also have the chance to meet The Queen and other ambassadors, as well as representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The reception was attended by ambassadors and their spouses from the Dominican Republic, Portugal, Turkey, Ethiopia, Lebanon, South Korea, Egypt and Iraq.
The Dominican Republic’s ambassador is welcomed by The King and Queen and The Crown Princess Couple. Photo: royalcourt.se
Featured image: The King welcomes Iraq’s ambassador. (Photo: royalcourt.se)
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet — On Friday 6 April, The King received four new foreign ambassadors during formal audiences at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.
The new ambassadors were Tanzania’s ambassador Willibrod Peter Slaa, Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador Bolot Isakovich Otunbaev, Mauritania’s ambassador Abdellahi Bah Nagi Kebd and Cambodia’s ambassador Soeung Rathchavy.
At the ceremony, the ambassadors submit their credentials – a document from their head of state – to The King, who then grants them the formal right to work in Sweden.
Formal audiences follow a traditional ceremony. The ambassador is collected in one of the Royal Stables’ carriages from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and is taken to the Royal Palace of Stockholm. The King and the ambassador then talk in private for around fifteen minutes.
The new ambassadors are transported by horse and carriage to the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Cambodia’s ambassador is received by Crown Equerry Ulf Gunnehed. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Mauritania’s ambassador at the East Gate. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
The King receives Cambodia’s ambassador Soeung Rathchavy. Photo: Lisa Raihle Rehbäck/royalcourt.se
The King receives Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador Bolot Isakovich Otunbaev. Photo: Lisa Raihle Rehbäck/royalcourt.se
The King receives Mauritania’s ambassador Abdellahi Bah Nagi Kebd. Photo: Lisa Raihle Rehbäck/royalcourt.se
The King receives Tanzania’s ambassador Willibrod Peter Slaa. Photo: Lisa Raihle Rehbäck/royalcourt.se
Tanzania’s ambassador leaves the Royal Palace of Stockholm in the Royal Stables’ car. Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se
Featured image: The King arrives at the Royal Palace of Stockholm for the formal audiences. (Photo: Henrik Garlöv/royalcourt.se)
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet — From Thursday 22 to Saturday 24 March, The King and Queen took part in a Scout trip with the Baden-Powell Fellowship to Mexico City, Mexico. The meeting was arranged by the World Scout Foundation, of which The King is Honorary Chairman. The Mexican Scout Movement has grown rapidly in recent years, with more and more members joining local Scout troops.
A seminar was held at the Panamerican University in Mexico City. Here, Scouts from various South American countries talked about some of the projects that have been made possible thanks to funds raised. The participants heard about Mexican Scout troops’ efforts following the hurricanes that struck the country in 2017.
The King mentioned these efforts in his speech at a dinner with the Baden-Powell Fellowship:
“These young men and women truly set an example; not only for their peers, but also for their elders. For us!”
On Mexico City’s Zócalo Square, Scouts built the world’s biggest fleur-de-lis (the symbol of the international Scout Movement) from collected empty cans. Photo: royalcourt.se
On the last day of their visit, The King and Queen took part in a Scouting activity at the National Palace on Mexico City’s Zócalo Square, where 10,000 Scouts worked together to build the world’s biggest fleur-de-lis (the symbol of the international Scout Movement) from collected empty cans.
The Baden-Powell Fellowship
The Baden-Powell Fellowship consists of more than 2,200 people in 70 countries who have donated money to the Scout Movement through the World Scout Foundation, of which The King is Honorary Chairman. The money raised helps to develop the Scout Movement in various parts of the world. The Swedish branch of the Baden-Powell Fellowship has 140 members. Lord Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) was the founder of the Scout Movement.
The World Scout Foundation
The World Scout Foundation raises funds for the continued development of the global Scout Movement. Today, there are approximately 50 million Scouts around the world.
Featured image: The King and Queen concluded their visit by taking part in a Scouting activity in Mexico City. (Photo: royalcourt.se)
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet — On Thursday 22 March, The Crown Princess visited the Amphibious Regiment (Amf 1) at Berga.
During her visit, The Crown Princess learnt about the regiment’s operations and had the opportunity to try combat shooting and throwing a live hand grenade.
The Crown Princess also joined the basic training company which is currently carrying out the Torleif exercise. The Crown Princess accompanied the soldiers on part of the exercise.
The visit concluded with The Crown Princess carrying out hovercraft training. Under supervision, The Crown Princess controlled the hovercraft for part of the concluding trip between Berga and Lidingö near Stockholm.
Featured image: The Crown Princess practises combat shooting. (Photo: Magnus Lindstedt/The Swedish Armed Forces)
Source: Swedish Royal Court Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet
NordenBladet – The annual Arctic Business Forum introduces the latest business development of the Arctic, investigates global and local trends and future prospects, and offers companies and organizations the chance to present their own business at the forum. The Arctic Europe has been calculated to hold investment potential worth of at least 197 billion euro. The forum offers valuable information about the possibilities and future investment potential of the Arctic region both for the local business representatives and international investors. The aim of the forum is to build networks and relationships among the region’s various business representatives.
The speakers of the Arctic Business Forum are all key representatives and stakeholders from various fields of Arctic industry. The themes addressed cover topics such as business investment potential in the Arctic, business policies and risks, innovation and Arctic cooperation.
PROMOTING ARCTIC BUSINESS Lapland Chamber of Commerce (est. 1939) is the Northernmost Chamber of Commerce in the European Union. The mission is to create success for business in Lapland and Finland. Representing views and opinions of trade and industry the Chamber is working on better business environment, offering business related services and building networks in order to maintain and enhance business competitiveness. Members of the Chamber include a variety of companies from big industrial companies to SME’s from different industries and branches of business, municipalities and other business related actors.
International cooperation and networking plays an active role of the Chamber activities. The annual Arctic Business Forum introduces the latest business development and future prospects of the arctic, and plays as an arena and meeting point to discuss the opportunities and obstacles of business. Arctic issues being the expertise area of the Chamber it has been involved in the preparation process of the Arctic Economic Council and, it is a member of the Northern Forum.
Lapland is the northernmost county of Finland with about 183 000 inhabitants. The total area of the county is 99 000 km2, which equals to 30% of the whole of Finland. Lapland is sharing borders with Sweden, Norway and Russia, altogether 1642 km. There are two international border crossings to Russia, six to Sweden and six to Norway. The six sub regions of Kemi-Tornio, East Lapland, the Valley of Tornio, Northern Lapland, the region of Rovaniemi and Fell Lapland form the region of Lapland. Rovaniemi is the administrative capital of Lapland with appr. 60900 inhabitants. The other cities in Lapland are Kemi, Tornio and Kemijärvi.
Clean nature and abundant natural resources provide a unique, solid foundation for the business sector in Lapland. The total turnover of Lapland business is over 10 billion euro, which of 34% is from industry. Lapland is the 5th strongest export region in Finland. Forest and metal are the main industrial players although mining and tourism are strongly growing branches of business in Lapland.
Arctic business forum 2018
Investments, Competitiveness & Startups in the Arctic
The 9th Arctic Business Forum will be organized 11. – 12.4.2018 at Kemi Finland, the capital of Arctic Industry.
While embracing the economic cooperation between the Arctic countries, the forum offers also valuable information about the possibilities and future investment potential of the Arctic region both for the local business representatives and international investors. Aim is to scrutinize the future and build network and relationships among region’s various representatives.
The Arctic Europe holds investment potential worth of at least 197 billion euro. In the forum will be presented the latest news in business development in this region. The speakers in the Arctic Business Forum are the key representatives and stakeholders on various branch of Arctic industry. The global and local trends at stake are addressed at the Arctic Business Forum. Moreover, the companies and organizations have a chance to present their own business at the trade show in touch with the forum.
The Arctic Business Forum is organized for the second time at the city of Kemi, which is, together with the city of Tornio, one of the biggest industrial centers in the Arctic region. The region’s future development in forest industry at Kemi and steel industry at Tornio offer various possibilities to SMEs in subcontracting and maintenance.
Welcome to the Arctic Business Forum 2018 to bond with other Arctic business representatives and stakeholders working for the Arctic prosperity.
Venue: City of Kemi, Kemi Cultural Centre (address: Marina Takalon Katu 3, 94100 Kemi)
Program 2018
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11th
9.00 OPENING SESSION
Mr. Juha Mäkimattila, Chairman of Board, Lapland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Mr. Tero Nissinen, Mayor of Kemi, Finland
Mr. Sun Liwei, Economic & Commercial Counselor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Finland, China
09.45 CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATION IN THE EUROPEAN ARCTIC
Mr. Harri Mäki-Reinikka, Ambassador, Senior Adviser, Northern Policies Department of Europe, Finland
Mr. Peter Waara, Chair Haparanda Municipal Council, Sweden
Mr. Anatoly Glushkov, President, Murmansk Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russia
11.30 ARCTIC BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT POTENTIAL IN 2018
Mr. Timo Rautajoki, President & CEO, Lapland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Mr. Mikå Mered, Professor of Arctic/Antarctic economics & geopolitics – Free Institute of International Relations Studies (ILERI, Paris), France
12.15 NETWORKING LUNCH
13.15 THE GREAT ARCTIC RAILWAY DEBATE
Moderator: Mr. Timo Rautajoki, President & CEO, Lapland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Keynote: Mr. Pirkka Hartikainen, Area Manager, Sitowise Oy, Finland
Keynote: Mr. Kjell Stokvik, Managing Director, Centre for High North Logistics / Kirkenes, Norway
Mr. Andreas Lind, Business and Development Director, County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Sweden
Mr. Marko Varajärvi, CEO, Council of Torne Valley, Finland
Mr. Jaakko Ylinampa, Director General, Lapland’s Centre for Economic Development, Finland
Mr. Harri Mäki-Reinikka, Ambassador, Senior Adviser, Northern Policies Department of Europe, Finland
Mr. Kustaa Valtonen, Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Finland
Mr. Marco Graziotto, Director of Promintergroup AG, Director Arctic Bulk, Italy
Mr Yuri Sekretev, Director of Representative office in Russia, Promintergroup AG and Director of Arctic Bulk AG, Russia
15.30 COFFEE BREAK
16.00 ARCTIC STARTUPS – NEW ENTREPRENEURSHIP CREATES GROWTH
Mr. Kustaa Valtonen, Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Finland
Mr. Marko Alamartimo, Business Advisor, Growth and International Business at Business Rovaniemi, Finland
Mr. Markus Pellikka, CEO, Santa Water Group, Finland
Mr. Antti Haukipuro, CEO, Suvanto Care, Finland
Mr. Kaj Kostiander, Director, Tornio Brewery, Finland
Ms. Sirly Schinmann, Chef and owner at Aurora Estate – Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, Finland
9.30 OPENING SESSION OF THE 2nd DAY
Mr. Timo Vuori, Executive Director at ICC Finland and Executive Vice President Finland Chamber of Commerce, Finland
Mrs. Mirva Antila, Country General Manager, IBM Finland
10.15 COFFEE BREAK
10.45 COMPETITIVENESS IN THE ARCTIC BUSINESS
Mr. Tomi Seppä, Vice President, Kemi Board and Pulp Mill at Metsä Group, Finland
Mrs. Tuula Untinen, Manager-Logistics Services, Outokumpu Stainless Oy, Finland
Mr. Andreas Lind, Business and Development Director, County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Sweden
Mr. Robert Hess, Vice Chairman, Global Strategy Team Leader, Newmark Global Corporate Services, United States
Mr. Kun Zhang, President of TUNGTAI International Holding Group, China
11.55 SIGNING CEREMONY
12.00 NETWORKING LUNCH
13.00 WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE EUROPEAN ARCTIC
Ms. Anu Fredrikson, Director, Arctic Economic Council
Ms. Satu Luiro, Senior Advisor in Tourism, Creative industries and Culture, Regional Council of Lapland, Finland
Mrs. Jaana Koivumaa, Manager, Hannukainen Mining Oy
Mr. Vladimir Masloboev, Deputy Chairman of the Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of the Murmansk Region, Russia
Ms. Clara Dumard, CEO Vaimiti Events – Nautical events in the Arctic, France
Mr. Christian Dumard, CEO – founder at Hokulea – Weather Analysis, France
Other Speakers TBC.
15.00 END OF PROGRAM IN KEMI CULTURAL CENTER
15.15 VISIT TO THE SNOWCASTLE OF KEMI
Duration: 30–45 minutes
Address: LumiLinnankatu, 94100 Kemi
Registration for the visit to the SnowCastle of Kemi at the same time as you will register to the Arctic Business Forum at Kemi Culture Centre. Distance to the SnowCastle from the venue for Arctic Business Forum is approx. 1 kilometer. One guided tour will have 15–20 visitors. Free pass to the tour is for everyone attending the Arctic Business Forum. Welcome to explore the beautiful SnowCastle of Kemi!
NordenBladet – Probably many people have ever wondered why the Nordic countries are so rich and enjoy a very high standard of living. Nordic countries become richer and year after year increase their international influence, turning Scandinavia into one of the most significant figures in the global economy. This fact surprises many people from all around the world and makes them wonder “why”.
“Scandinavian/Nordic countries climbed the ladder with very different paths. The only thing that is common is the small population & universal education,” tells Balaji Viswanathan, CEO of Invento Robotics to Quora.
Here you can read his views:
?? Sweden:
Like Switzerland, Sweden was able to preserve its neutrality during both the world wars and had a dramatic peace dividend. In the post-war growth, Sweden gained an upper hand with its intact production and labor.
?? Norway: Norway is the Saudi Arabia of Europe. Its population that could fit in a New York Borough or a Tokyo suburb, is blessed with an enormous oil reserve. Just like other small oil republics such as Kuwait, Brunei and UAE, Norway is able to provide high welfare levels to its citizens. Mix Hard working population + abundant resources and you get a recipe for high growth.
During the time of great depression it escaped a lot of harm by ditching the gold standard quite soon (Keynes attributes to the long nature of depression in other countries due to the hard money standards). However, its biggest growth phase came post 1970s when oil prices shot substantially. Read more about The Economic History of Norway.
?? Finland:
Unlike its other Nordic neighbors, Finland was an economic backwater until a couple of decades ago. Since then its investments in electronics & heavy industries paid off. Nokia, Rovio Mobile (makers of Angry Birds) and KONE elevators call Finland their home.
Like Israel, Finland has a small and a well-knit population of well educated people. This strength enabled it to grow strong in the service & the information revolution since the 1980s.
?? Denmark:
Unlike the other Nordic countries, Denmark has been a rich country for centuries. It was a major colonial power and its proximity to Netherlands & Britain helped the ideas move there quite quickly. Like Sweden, it stayed neutral during the wars and some of the damage was averted. Although it was occupied by Germany in WW-II, there was not too much of the destruction. Read more about it here: An Economic History of Denmark.
“Each of the four Scandinavian countries are different, and I think I’ll explain each one separately. It is a common misconception to think that all four countries got wealthy the same way, and that’s not true, but what’s true is that their current post-wealthy policies are pretty similar,” tells Stephen Kumar to Quora.
Here you can read his views:
?? Sweden:
Sweden started developing its industries from an agrarian society and had become an industrialised country by WWII. A communist revolution had been avoided in 1917 and Sweden became a parliamentary democracy. After the war, Sweden took advantage of its prior industrialization and joined the OECD and the Marshall Plan. It attracted big companies and slowly became richer until the sector transferred from secondary industries to tertiary industries. However, Sweden suffered from economic crisis and decline in the late 80s and early 90s. It joined the EU and its economy today has been boosted by migrant workers. Sweden is not successful that much economically, but it has been great at treating its citizens apparently.
?? Norway:
Norway has “extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water and hydro-power”. Norway was a normal country (as were most Scandinavian countries) until the Philips Petroleum Company discovered oil offshore, and today oil accounts for a quarter of Norway’s GDP. It is also to be noted that Norway would have probably been a pretty rich country without oil, noting that the number of workers in industry peaked in 1975, just after the discovery of oil.
?? Finland:
Finland is a peculiar case. Its economy was not too great until 1991, when it plummeted due to the loss of its main trading partner, the Soviet Union. The depression reached its trough in 1993 and Finland has experienced huge net economic growth since then. Its GDP per capita has taken a long jump-esque leap to USD $46000. It has a population about 5 million and has a reputation for the Nordic system of democracy and economic success.
?? Denmark:
Denmark was one of the founding members of the United Nations and the EFTA (European Free Trade Organisation). It experienced great economic growth due to its flexi-security model, which allows employers to start a business easily and hire and fire at will while the unemployed are supported by a strong Nordic safety net. Denmark also has many degree-holders and free-trade supporters who support this model and Denmark is the easiest place in Europe to start a business.
Here we´ll list 8 more reasons, why Scandinavia is so rich:
1st reason: One of the hallmarks of the Nordic countries is the combination of large area and small number of people living there. In Scandinavia are some of the larger European countries that are also among the countries with the lowest population density in the world. The considerable wealth of these countries is easily distributable among the sparse population. This means that the population has very high GDP (gross domestic product) per capita. For these countries is relatively easy to satisfy their own needs and at the same time to export high quality goods and services.
2nd reason: The Scandinavian countries have a favorable economic occupation. Their neighbors are large and highly developed countries (Germany for example). These countries are bordered by the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, North and Baltic Seas. These waters are extremely rich in fish and in many places, especially along the coast of Norway, there are significant deposits of oil. The long coastline favors the development of water transport. Not accidentally for centuries the Scandinavians have always been known as exceptional sailors.
3rd reason: The Scandinavian countries are specialized in the production of a given product or service, occupying a specific market niche in the world. Norway is a global manufacturer of oil that is extracted from the bottom of the North Sea. Sweden is known for its high quality steel, paper and automobiles and Finland is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones. Despite its small territory, Denmark is among the leading food producers in, as well as one of the world leaders in the production of renewable energy. Iceland is famous for the export of fish and fishery products from the rich Arctic waters.
4th reason: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland are countries with cold and dark climate. Because of this reason the lifestyle is absolutely different in comparison with the summer holiday atmosphere which prevails in South Europe. In most of the year the weather conditions in the Nordic countries are too unfavorable. This causes people to find indoor activities, to indulge in work, learning and other forms of self-perfection in order to go faster through the freezing and depressing winter months. The cold climate has built a completely different habits in the Nordic people. In the Mediterranean countries, because of the hot and lazy weather during the summer season people spend a lot of time outdoors. This leads to more time for socializing and less time for working and learning. The sun makes people seek entertainment. The unbearable summer heat, especially in July and August, makes people almost unable to work.
5th reason: To a large extent the wealth of the Scandinavians is a result of financial and tax policy. Nobody can deny that it is important not only how exactly developed is the country, but also what kind of wealth distribution policy is being held. In the modern western societies and states, of course, the role of countries in the income redistribution is relatively small. As a whole the government intervention is considered to be very unfair and unpopular. To a large extent the government intervention into the economy is limited to the imposition of taxes. That is the main lever, which has made countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland so successful. Taxes in the Nordic countries are very high. Most benefited of this social policy are poor, elderly, unemployed, young and still vulnerable people (e.g. students) and low-income people. The wealthy residents of the Nordic countries are not particularly happy with the fact that they have to be separated by significant part of their incomes. Besides the fact that Scandinavia assists people with lower incomes, it invests also large sums of money in science, health and development of high technology, which guarantees future success of the region. When the state on one hand takes care of people to be healthy, educated and confident in their future, they on the other hand make it up by developing the full potential of their capabilities, regardless of what they can do. Thus, generally speaking, the Nordic countries form strong nations consisted of ambitious, confident and calm people and this is probably the biggest wealth of these countries.
6th reason: Sweden, Finland and Denmark are members of the European Union and Iceland is in talks to join. Only Norway is not a member of EU but maintain very close economic relations with the community. The EU membership and partnership is a very solid foundation for economic development of the Nordic countries. It is encouraging for them to know that they can rely to the support of the biggest market in the world. The European Union is a guarantee that countries will never be “hungry” for high and low skilled workers. It is also a guarantee that goods and services producing in these countries will have a much bigger market in comparison with their own.
7th reason: The Nordic states enjoy an outstanding order, security and peaceful way of life. It will not be an exaggeration to say that these are the countries with the lowest crime rate in the world. This in turn is a really good advertising and attracts numerous investors. Scandinavia is a region where people have very high confidence in the judiciary and police, which is a very good basis for development of stable society. Perhaps this is the right place to mention that in the Nordic countries alcohol consumption is quite limited due to the highly inflated prices. This fact with certainly has its positive impact on crime.
8th reason: Equal treatment is also among the leading causes that put Scandinavia on top of the world’s wealth and quality of life. And this is not only a question of ethnic and religious equality. It comes also to gender equality. Sweden is known as the country in the world where women rights are most respected. Iceland on the other hand is first in the world according to important state positions in the country, occupied by women. The equality between men and women causes very positive impact on the economy. Because of this reason the population in the Nordic countries is more functional economically.
Featured image: Sweden, Stockholm (NordenBladet/Helena-Reet Ennet)
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NordenBladet – According to Forbes’ 2017-edition of the world’s billionaires the world’s richest person is still Bill Gates, with a combined wealth of almost $87 billion dollars. Biggest gainer was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who grew his wealth by almost $3 bn in a year. But who are wealthy in Scandinavia? The list also contains 58 people from the Nordics, more than half of them from Sweden. Meanwhile, Norway, with 14 billionaires, has one more than Finland and Denmark combined.
This year, Sweden saw five new billionaires enter the list, whereas oil & gas billionaire Mika Anttonen (ST1) was Finland’s only new entry. Denmark stayed the same, while Norway had investor Svein Stole and cruise magnate Torstein Hagen enter the list.
The region’s biggest family dynasties are duly represented on the Forbes list. H&M, IKEA and Tetra Laval family members take up more than a third of Swedish spots; elevator giant KONE’s inheritors dominate the Finnish list; and Norwegian investment company Ferd’s inheritors Alexandra and Katharina are the world’s youngest billionaires. The third youngest, 23-year old Gustav Magnar Witzoe, is also Norwegian.
The richest Nordic person on the Forbes list is LEGO Group’s former president and CEO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen from Denmark. His estimated net worth is $21,2 billion.
Here are the Nordics dollar billionaires 2017, according to Forbes:
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