The China Opportunity

I attended a Seminar in Helsinki "China: the opportunity comes to town". The event at the Scandic Hotel in Helsinki did draw several hundred participants. For myself, the seminar put Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao into a more understandable context. There was also an opportunity to meet with a lot of people from those areas.

In a remarkably short period of time, economic globalisation has changed the world economic order bringing new opportunities and new challenges. In this new economic order, Europe cannot compete unless it becomes more inventive, reacts better to consumer needs and preferences and innovates more.

Finland is a big country with a sparse population. Hong Kong has about the same number of inhabitants but Finns are living on an area that is 300 times larger. Our SMEs have to get out to the international markets at an early stage while the home market can't provide a living and a platform for success for specialized companies with niche products.

Fuelled by a surging economy, China's appetite for technology products and solutions has never been stronger, especially popular are innovations that improve energy, environmental and manufacturing efficiency. Equally, China-developed technologies are attracting interest across international markets.

The two-way flow f innovation, investment and expertise has created a unique and growing technology market right in close vicinity of Hong Kong.