United News of Bangladesh

Noting an increasing interest among the Finnish private sector towards Bangladesh, Finland’s Under-Secretary of State (International Trade) Jarno Syrjälä has said there is enormous potential to enhance the collaboration between the companies in the field of green transition. "To name a few, energy, water, and the circular economy are areas where the benefits for both parties seem obvious," he told UNB in an exclusive interview highlighting their focus on sustainability and digitalisation. These are also areas where Finnish businesses can bring state-of-the-art solutions, Syrjälä said, adding that some Finnish companies are among the global leaders in energy and waste-to-energy solutions. "Our companies can also provide efficient technologies in wastewater treatment and water body cleaning," he said. Syrjälä said Finnish companies can provide top-class expertise in smart and sustainable solutions, be it in the fields of energy, ICT, infrastructure, or circular economy and the textile industry. "While the economic collaboration is still on a modest level, the recent business delegation visit proves that there is increasing interest among the Finnish private sector towards Bangladesh," he said. The programme of the delegation was strongly tuned on B2B-contacts and building new partnerships. "Challenges are often around finding the right contacts and information, but I think a lot of these were tackled during our trip to Bangladesh," said the Under-Secretary of State on International Affairs. Asked about steps being taken to enhance economic cooperation and trade between Finland and Bangladesh, the Under-Secretary of State said the recent visit of a Finnish business delegation to Bangladesh including the companies Coolbrook, Elematic, Konecranes, Mirasys, Routa Digital, Wirepas and Wärtsilä was clearly such a concrete step. "I hope the visit facilitated meaningful connections between Bangladeshi and Finnish companies, and that even more Finnish companies will get interested in the Bangladesh market as a result," he said. In digitalisation, the Under-Secretary of State said they recognise Bangladesh’s impressive progress in the last years. Bangladesh, Japan forge stronger SME collaboration at ICOSA roundtable in Tokyo "Smart digital solutions, ICT, AI and cybersecurity are areas where our countries could potentially deepen mutually beneficial cooperation" he said, adding that Finland has globally recognised expertise in ICT, digital governance, and cybersecurity. Digitalisation, ethics and digital security must all go hand in hand. The Under-Secretary of State said Finland has a national cybersecurity center and a whole-of-society approach to cyber resilience, which might also be interesting for Bangladesh. He said they had seven innovative Finnish companies as part of their business delegation-- all of them are already exploring investment opportunities in the Bangladeshi market. "Their focus areas include energy, precast construction solutions, logistics, smart metering, intelligent traffic management, low-emission technologies for heavy industries such as cement, chemicals and steel, as well as digital transformation of businesses," he said. The democratic reform process of Bangladesh bears relevance also with respect to the LDC-graduation, as transition from the EU’s EBA-system to the GSP+ arrangement entails consistent work in the fields of sustainability and human rights, including labour legislation, said the Under-Secretary of State. "With this in mind, we have already seen positive steps by the interim government, and encourage Bangladesh to maintain a strong focus on fulfilling the obligations of international conventions, in line with GSP requirements," he said. Responding to a question, Syrjälä said Finland can offer high-quality solutions in digitalisation and sustainability, for example in renewable energy solutions. "Another example is the textile sector that likely continues to play an important role in Bangladesh’s economy. Because of the huge impact of the textile industry, sustainability is important, and our companies can provide efficient technologies in wastewater treatment, circular textile, and in water body cleaning," he said.