Markku Kuismin, commercial counselor at the Finnish Embassy in Warsaw and director of Finpro Poland, talks to Agnieszka Domańska.

How do you view the pace of development and direction of trade and economic contacts between Poland and Finland recently?
I would first like to highlight Patria's success in Poland. Patria's contract with the Polish army has given a strong impetus to Finnish/Polish business relations and affected the Finnish attitude towards Poland positively. The offset deal is also providing many business opportunities for Polish enterprises. More generally, there are 300 Finnish exporters and over 200 Finnish investors active here. Finland is well known for its paper and forestry business, its architecture and wooden constructions, and, of course, communication (ICT) and high-tech applications. Many large Finnish companies, like Nokia, Neste and Rautaruukki, are already in the Polish market, and new ones, like Autotest or Iittala, are constantly arriving. However, many small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are not in Poland yet.

What are the biggest obstacles preventing Finnish SMEs from entering Poland?
Small companies are afraid of delays and extra costs caused by bureaucracy and corruption; bad news travels fast, and one bad experience can spoil ten new attempts. Finland has been ranked as the world's least corrupt country for many years in a row. Finns expect that the same rules apply to everyone. We're not used to the same laws or regulations being interpreted differently depending on the applicant. When Finpro organized an EU workshop for Finnish businesspeople this fall, their main expectation was that the EU would make business practices in Poland fairer and more transparent.

Finland has also been ranked as the world's most competitive economy by the IMD. What are the factors behind the high ranking of your country?
One of Finland's strengths is the very good research cooperation between universities and industry. This improves innovation capacity and speeds up the product development process. When bringing new products to markets, Finpro-our business consulting organization-is really important. Finpro has a special role in supporting Finnish companies, when selecting the right markets and when planning and implementing the market entry. But that is not all. We are also identifying the changes in the market continuously and challenge Finnish companies to take advantage of the changes. We are involved in about 100 business cases every year.

Many Finnish companies have now established a strong position in the Polish market. Do you think it is possible for Polish companies to be successful in your country?
Absolutely, Poland has a strong and competitive production base and is successfully exporting many products, like vehicles, boats, furniture or foodstuffs. When entering the EU, many Polish products will have even better chances of succeeding. However, it is important to note that the EU is not providing a solution here; it is only providing an opportunity, which the companies must take themselves.

However, many SMEs are not aware of the changes EU accession will bring. That's why we plan to organize, together with Euroconsult, a series of EU awareness workshops for SMEs. We want to combine the learning needs of many companies and, by working together with a professional training company, tailor an interactive program for them under the Finpro Training and Learning Center umbrella.