Growth in Pirkanmaa is built on a strong foundation of businesses and expertise

Pirkanmaa is one of Finland’s most significant regions in terms of growth and renewal. The region combines a strong and diverse business community, high-level expertise, research and investment projects of national significance. Jenni Pöllänen, Chief Executive of Pirkanmaa Entrepreneurs, believes it is important to view Pirkanmaa’s growth as part of Finland’s overall growth.

– Pirkanmaa has a strong and diverse business community and a wealth of expertise on which to build new growth. To fully realise this potential, national decisions are needed to support growth. ‘When businesses in Pirkanmaa have the conditions to grow, invest and create jobs, the Finnish economy as a whole is strengthened,’ says Pöllänen.

Major investments represent a key opportunity. Pirkanmaa has a strong industrial base, technological expertise, higher education institutions and a diverse business community. It is possible to build new value chains, exports and jobs around these. To realise this potential, it is important to ensure that these investments generate new business, jobs and growth across Pirkanmaa and the whole of Finland.

This requires effective business ecosystems, open collaboration and public procurement that enables companies to participate. When projects are planned and competitive bidding is organised in a way that takes account of operators of all sizes, this creates more competition in the market and new opportunities for growth. At the same time, the impact of public investment is felt more widely across Finland.

Industrial renewal and dual-use technologies present particular opportunities for the Pirkanmaa region. The region combines technological expertise, research, higher education institutions and businesses in a way that provides Finland with a strong platform for developing new technology and export business. Alongside R&D funding, solutions are needed to ensure that the expertise generated by research is transferred more effectively to businesses and international markets.

Solutions aimed at improving accessibility are investments in Finland’s competitiveness

Increasing the capacity of the main railway line, upgrading highways 3 and 12, implementing marshalling yard solutions and strengthening the position of Tampere-Pirkkala Airport will improve the operating conditions for business not only in Pirkanmaa but throughout Finland. Smooth transport links support exports, labour mobility and investment. They are also important for security of supply.

Another fundamental prerequisite for growth is skills. Vocational and higher education must respond more effectively to the needs of the labour market, and work- and study-based immigration must be made smoother. Solutions for lifelong learning can also help to strengthen the renewal of skills. In Pirkanmaa, the conditions are favourable for cooperation between education, research and the world of work, and this cooperation should be strengthened through national measures.

– Pirkanmaa has a good opportunity to be one of Finland’s engines of growth. However, this requires long-term decisions and cooperation across organisational and administrative boundaries. ‘We want to be involved in developing solutions that strengthen the conditions for business growth and ensure that Pirkanmaa’s potential is utilised as effectively as possible for the benefit of the whole of Finland,’ emphasises Jari Haapaniemi, Chair of the Board of Pirkanmaa Entrepreneurs, on the importance of working together.

Attractiveness is also part of growth policy. Skilled people, businesses and investments are drawn to regions that offer a good quality of life, efficient transport links, high-quality services and a strong range of events and cultural activities. These factors underpin Pirkanmaa’s ability to attract new residents, businesses and investment.

Pirkanmaa’s shared government programme objectives are, above all, a proposal on how the region’s strengths can be reinforced through national decisions. The incoming government has the opportunity to make decisions that will boost investment, improve the availability of skills and strengthen the conditions for growth in Finland.

Pirkanmaa has the capacity to grow and renew itself. To support this, decisions are needed that will ensure investment takes place, improve availability of skills and accessibility, and enhance growth opportunities for businesses. When Pirkanmaa grows, it generates growth, jobs and well-being for the whole of Finland.