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Riyadh: Aiming to further expand Saudi-Finnish business cooperation, Business Finland says that Saudi Vision 2030 has opened up new areas for potential cooperation between Finland and the Kingdom.

„Through Vision 2030 and this massive change happening in the country, we believe that new areas of potential cooperation between the two countries and Finland will be a great partner for the Kingdom to achieve Vision 2030 goals and objectives,” said Nabil Mohamed. , a senior consultant at Business Finland, said during an interview with Arab News.

Mohamed and Business Finland’s fellow Senior Advisor Mudar Al-Ani highlighted their work to expand Finnish businesses in areas such as digital transformation in Saudi Arabia.

„We see more Finnish companies in the market here (in Saudi Arabia) and more Saudi companies in Finland,” said Mohamed.

„We have had strong ties with Saudi Arabia for a long time, we started in the late 1960s. Our big companies have been in the market for a long time, an obvious example is Nokia,” he added.

In the past two years, business cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Finland has seen new growth, despite the limitations of COVID-19.

“I think 2022 and 2023 is a very special period in strengthening the special relationship between the two countries, and this initiative has been implemented hand in hand with our embassy and our counterparts on the Saudi side. As well,” explained Mohammed.

In November 2022, Saudi Arabia and Finland agreed to create a bilateral system to boost the SR1.9 billion ($510 million) trade relationship between the two countries.

A memorandum of understanding to establish a Saudi-Finnish business group was signed between the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Helsinki.

At the same time, the Federation of Saudi Chambers signed a memorandum of understanding with Business Finland to finance and promote trade and investment between the two countries.

The MoU mainly focused on technology, digitalisation, energy, circular economy, mining, transport and logistics services, health and water.

„If we look at Business Finland’s main goals, we need to help Finnish companies grow globally, facilitate the right environment, give them the right advice to enter the Saudi market and connect them with the right market opportunities,” Al-Ani said, adding that Business Finland is working with companies to „find solutions for the future, together with them. R&D (research and development) phases and working with their counterparts in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Al-Ani added that they should thrive in the „public-private partnership between Saudi Arabia and Finland”.

He explained that the Kingdom currently has many large companies that have been strong for years and small companies operating in the market.

„Finland is also a global leader in some other sectors such as mining, logistics – the circular economy, of course, is a very important area for cooperation (in) and capacity building, including education, training,” said Mohammad. .

„In the Kingdom, there are many new areas of potential cooperation between the two countries, and of course digital transformation is a key pillar in all the different sectors,” he added.

Looking to the future, Al-Ani said Business Finland hopes to see more knowledge exchange and skill development between the two countries in the next five years.