Director General Veli-Pekka Saarnivaara (pictured below) shares why Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, contributes to SWEET.
Why does Tekes provide funding for SWEET?
SWEET has many qualities that are in line with our strategy. Much in the same manner as Kemira, we are trying to see where the world is headed and what business opportunities the future brings.
Tekes wants to help Finnish companies succeed internationally. The possibilities of success increase with added value in products, and SWEET adds value by creating new types of solutions.
SWEET reflects our international focus in funding. Regional clusters are disintegrating as horizons broaden beyond national borders. Problems are global, so solutions have to be global as well.
We found the project to be so promising that the decision to provide funding was easy to make. Typically, we do not invest in extensive projects run by large companies. Most of our customer companies have fewer than 500 employees.
What kind of opportunities does SWEET create?
SWEET elevates the profile of the water business and offers an opportunity to create an extensive network of partners in the field. This is exactly what we need in Finland. Its strengths also include a customer-oriented approach. We are happy to contribute to projects involving a large company that rethinks its strategy and shifts its focus from manufacturing products to developing services and solutions for customers. This is what customers expect nowadays.
SWEET is internationally focused, which means that it offers new avenues for small com¬panies as well. We have from the beginning hoped that small and medium-sized businesses would join the project.
How do you see Kemira’s role in developing the water business?
Kemira has a huge role. Tekes has made a considerable investment in the project, which is in line with our strategy. As a public funding provider, we find it more effective to provide significant support to a few promising projects than to divide the funding into small amounts among a multitude.
In the future, we will increasingly support trailblazers, such as Kemira, in various fields. A large company has the resources to focus on development, and Kemira has genuinely integrated development into its business strategy.
Tekes has its own water program for 2008–2012. Why was it launched?
Everybody needs clean water, but it is a scarce resource. Expectations of high water quality increase with environmental awareness. In industry, for example, closed water cycles are becoming more common.
Historically, the sewer system is the invention that has affected human health the most. Our strategic focuses include natural resources and sustainable economy, and water is an important natural resource which also offers new business opportunities.
What kind of projects and research does your water program enhance?
We want to bring together people and companies working with water. In addition, we want to support projects that make use of cutting-edge technology. This also promotes innovation. Our water program involves product development projects in small and medium-sized businesses as well as projects in research institutes.
Our goal is to reform the water sector in Finland. Finnish expertise should be broadened, so that companies would be braver to enter international markets. Finland has a good competence base for municipal water management as well as industrial water treatment. The state of our waters is good, as is our reputation in environmental care.
What challenges are related to developing the water business?
Developing markets suffer from the most critical shortages of clean water. In these markets, municipal water issues are usually political, and market entry may prove to be difficult.
Challenges in Finland include increasing cooperation among small and medium-sized businesses in water issues. We need a company like Kemira to lead the development and create an international network.
Text: Pirkko Koivu
Photo: Joanna Moorhouse
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