Why Finland is the world’s most competitive nation today

Just a little over a week ago, our dailies carried press reports of Finland having "roared from sixth place last year" to become the world’s most competitive country, removing the US from the top spot, as reported by the Global Competitiveness Report 2001 (GCR ’01), a 352-page report prepared jointly by Harvard University Professors Michael Porter and Jeffrey Sachs, and the World Economic Forum. It was under the aegis of the Associated Press of Geneva that the report was first released, which has put together the existing economic data of about 75 countries and the results of a survey of 4,600 business executives. Peter Cornelius, director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Program, said that although the surveys and the work were completed before the Sept. 11 attacks on the US, these did not have any substantial impact because the survey has been studying the long-term outlook. At the World Economic Congress in Washington a couple of years ago, I remember having listened to Cornelius expound on the different facets of global competitiveness and his views indeed made sense. Another rating reported by a rival survey produced by the International Institute for Management Development (IIMD) based in Lausanne, Switzerland, had placed the US and Singapore in the first two slots, and Finland already in third place in its report the year before. What makes the GCR ’01 report remarkable for Finland is the fact that she jumped from sixth place the year before to first. The report attributes Finland’s outstanding "leap of faith" over the past decade which serves as evidence of how quickly an economy’s prospects can be transformed, to "strong political institutions, a focus on technology at the right time, and sound macroeconomic management."

The reason I feel specially good about this is the fact that I am a member of the Philippines-Finland Association (PFA), was privileged to head the Philippine Trade Mission to Helsinki from June 29 to July 2, 1999, and had witnessed the excellent performance of my friend, the former Ambassador of Finland to the Philippines, Ambassador Pertti Majanen, who is now back at Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs after a well-deserved promotion. The same enviable performance I witnessed also in the person of Chargés d’Affaires Juha Kuusi before him who was a co-disciple of mine under the late Prof. Myres McDougal of the Yale Law School. I am also right now witnessing the good performance of his successor, Ambassador Raimo Anttola, a career ambassador whose exeperience in foreign affairs has spanned an impressive period of about three decades. If the quality of Finland’s diplomatic functionaries is anywhere close to the two abovementioned Finnish statesmen, it becomes easy to understand why in international competitiveness right now, Finland is on top of the world. Just as it is crystal clear to me as a telecom functionary in government at one time, why the "Land of a Thousand Networks" or the "Most Wired and Wireless Country in the World" enjoys the highest Internet connectivity at present. I am sure that many of you know that Nokia, the Finnish global supplier and manufacturer of wireless systems and equipment, has dislodged Ericsson of Sweden, for some time now, from the top slot.

I have been to Helsinki, Finland only once and that was, as I said earlier, in 1999. It is still quite fresh in my memory because the excitement and eagerness to visit a country you’ve never been to which I felt before the trip had so easily been eclipsed by the eagerness to visit for the second time, the Finland that I indeed found extraordinary. I remember having packed a lot of thick sweaters, made sure to bring the warmest coat possible having been told that even in summertime, the swift temperature switches can be treacherous. It’s a pity that my luggage was filled with these, for the only thing I needed was a wrap at nighttime. What made this surprise even more outstanding was the fact that close to midnight every single night I was there, the Finnish skies were still aglow. And under the glowing skies at summertime, having for the first time a reindeer sandwich is an experience worth going through, again and again.

Finland has become the business center of what is now called the "New Northern Europe." Once a periphery supplying raw materials to the industrial centers of Europe, Northern Europe has emerged as one of the most important regions for advanced industry and trade. The New Northern Europe has three distinct markets: Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Northwestern Russia. The wealthy Nordic countries – which, aside from Finland, are Denmark, Sweden and Norway – enjoy very high living standards. The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are among the fastest growing "transition economies" in Europe with more than eight million inhabitants. Northwestern Russia which includes St. Petersburg and Moscow, with prodigious natural resources, is home to more than 44 million people, many of whom are having their first exciting encounters with a market economy.

Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809, and then part of the Russian Empire until 1917. Since her independence, Finland has been one of Europe’s fastest developing countries and has an outstanding advanced infrastructure. Finland can be proud to have such a highly educated population. Education became of the utmost priority where an educational system of the highest quality was made within the reach of every one regardless of social background. In a speech delivered by the Secretary of State of Finland on a visit to Manila on March 20 this year, Minister Jukka Valtasaari said: "A university network was built in my country to cover the whole country including the outlying regions. This made it possible to harness and harvest the talents of the whole population. No talent was ever wasted in my recollection."

In spite of the cold climate that obtains in Finland throughout a great part of the year, Finnish men and women are unbelievably warm people, and the Finnish women extraordinarily good looking, one reason why the Filipino men that have discovered this fact keep going back to Finland.

And Finland has plenty of nature. The thousands of lakes in central and eastern Finland are unique, as is the sub-arctic wilderness in northern Finland. Even though her land area is roughly equal to that of Japan or California, the population is less than six million. It is the sparseness that partly accounts for the state’s emphasis on excellence in infrastructure.

In the forest industry, Finland is a world leader. Their forest products are a legacy of the country’s tremendous forest wealth, held sacred by the Finnish people. The members of the 1999 Philippine Trade Mission were privileged to visit one of the oldest "farms" in Finland, sip tea and partake of some of the most delicious cookies they’ve ever had, with an extremely educated gentleman farmer, his wife and children. Walking through the lush forest surrounding their cottage, our host explained that the property has been with his forebears before him for years. Though an old farm, the technology utilized in the tree-planting is state-of-the-art. Reforestation has become a manifestation of technological art, aspects of which have received great attention from the Philippines-Finland Association, the members of which have evidently become so aware of how important reforestation technology and methodology are for the Philippines.

For transnational companies planning to cover all markets of the New Northern Europe, Finland is ideally situated. From Helsinki, it is a mere 360-kilometer drive to St. Petersburg; Stockholm and the Arctic Sea are only a one-hour flight away. It is certainly easier to make money in a growing market and the markets of Northern Europe have been growing vibrantly. Finland is a small, open economy and has to trade to live, and live well it has. The country’s largest trading partners have been the USA and Russia. Within Europe, Germany, Sweden and the UK are her main trading partners.

Finnish companies have more than 500 productive facilities abroad employing a total of more than 130,000 people, and within her shores, there are over 1,300 foreign companies employing more than 61,000. Business effectiveness is enhanced tremendously by Finland’s outstanding infrastructure. The Finns also have one of the world’s most developed banking systems. Visiting the "motherhouse" of Nokia, one cannot help but be overwhelmed by the magnificently modern architecture of the premises and the superlative hospitality of Nokia’s officials.

Finland has become outstandingly a base for international firms with operations throughout the New Northern Europe. Aside from telecommunications, she excels in mining, metallurgy and engineering, health care, the forest industry, and the tricky science of waste management, a discipline the Philippines critically needs. And now, information processing and communication which has become a central livelihood of much of the population – Finland is, by the way, one of the most computer-literate populations in the world.

I have just received an invitation from Ambassador Anttola to a reception celebrating 10 years of "ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Cooperation" between the Philippines and Finland, being celebrated on the year that is seeing Finland emerge as the world’s most competitive nation. It has therefore become specially meaningful to write about Finland in the manner I have, for the country certainly deserves the honor. Celebrating these past 10 years can be made more memorable if Finland’s partner, the Philippines, in the 15th year, will be able to rid herself of the ills that plague her and gnaw at her insides, and attain the economic recovery she so desperately requires.

I cannot write about Finland without paying tribute to the Philippines-Finland Association, an organization of extremely high-powered and enthusiastic Finnish men and women (Finns) and Filipino men and women ("Finnoys" and "Finnays") who have contributed greatly to the excellent relationship existing between Finland and the Philippines; the association’s outstanding president who is Finland’s honorary consul in the Philippines; the dedicated officers and members of the board; the chairmen and members of all the committees, and the excellent staff of the embassy and the association. As for me, I certainly would like to have another reindeer sandwich!