1.How has your experience been during your first year as a chairman of the Finnish Business council?
I would say the most interesting part has been to see how well connected the Finnish community truly is in the UAE. Having a Business Council among that sews everything together and provides the platform for activities and further networking. It can be seen that the overall Finnish community in the UAE is running Finnish Business Council and not the other way around, which is fantastic. Another interesting remark has been the perception of other Business Councils about Finnish Business Council and Finland in general. Seemingly Finland is recognized to be a tiny country in terms of the population but still it is valued for its high level of education, innovation and industrial development together with its companies making Finnish Business Council an interesting partner for cooperation. Surely we are fun people to hang out with too!
2. What are your hopes and aspirations for FBC going forward?
Finnish Business Council is building bridges between Finland and the UAE as we say, and there are still plenty of unexplored rivers and valleys where this bridge could be fitted. Especially in the areas of green energy, sustainability, and education there are endless possibilities between these two countries for cooperation and that’s something where FBC can support the companies and the individuals associated with this process and help them to find each other. The hope is to get as many companies and people together with us for it.
3. As Head of Isku Middle East, what are you most proud of regarding the company’s achievements here in UAE?
Every successful delivery is a reason to be proud of but the highlights are the ones where the customer focused heavily on the price in the buying process, but eventually gave feedback of receiving more value than the amount paid after seeing the final result. And this same happens to many Finnish companies here, not only ISKU. Finnish companies are perceived expensive at the first sight, but the value pays off in quality and reliability in the longer run.
4. How does a perfect day look like to you?
I’m very satisfied if the day runs smoothly along the lines as I planned it. It’s just not the typical way how the days unravel here, and sometimes that’s a positive thing and sometimes not so favourable. Maybe that perfect day has some of those plot twists on a positive note together with solid eight hours of sleep.
5. New skill you would still like to learn?
Arabic. At least some phrases more of it. That would be handy.
