Finnish ambassador seeks links to give Brighton business boost (From The Argus)

Finnish ambassador seeks links to give Brighton business boost

3:00pm Saturday 14th January 2012 in News By John Keenan, business editor

A foreign diplomat is seeking to boost business links between Sussex and his home country.

The Ambassador of Finland, Mr Pekka Huhtaniemi and his wife Liisa visited Brighton yesterday and met with city politicians and The Argus business editor John Keenan to discuss the local economy.

The pair also revealed plans to open an advance voting station at The Finnish School in Church Road, Portslade today.

The next election of the President of Finland will be held on January 22 and the voting station will allow around 200 Finnish nationals in Brighton and Hove to vote for their preferred candidate.

During his visit to the area, the ambassador met with Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bill Randall and chief executive John Barradell.

He also held talks with representatives from the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Mr Huhtaniemi said he wanted to strengthen the links between firms in Finland and Brighton and Hove.

The ambassador said that cultural ties could include a ‘chef exchange’ programme to coincide with the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival.

Coun Randall told the ambassador that Brighton and Hove boasted two universities and a highly educated workforce.

He said that the transfer of knowledge between industry and academia was an area where the city could gain from Finnish expertise.

He said: “This is something the Finns seem to be good at. We need to get better at cross fertilisation between business and our universities.

“What we share with Finland is highly developed digital industries. I think we need to do more to develop import and export opportunities.”