On 28 October 2000, Finland and China will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship. To commemorate this date and to note the changing times, joint symposiums on the information society and environment/forests will be organised in Beijing. Finnish ministers and corporate leaders will participate in these symposiums and other anniversary events.

    Both countries have come a long way during the past 50 years. Today China is Finland's second largest trading partner outside Europe. What is even more remarkable is the way Finnish companies have established themselves in China, numbering already almost 200. Nokia, which has eight factories and R&D Centers in China, launched on 8 May 2000, the largest foreign-funded project in Beijing's new industrial high-tech park. Nokia and its global partners, a cluster of subcontractors and suppliers, will invest US$ 1.2 billion in this new venture.

    All the other leading Finnish multinationals have a presence in China such as UPM-Kymmene, Stora Enso, Kone and Fortum as well as numerous SMEs. These companies are there not only for the Chinese markets, but to build with R&D and new innovations a competitive base for their global strategies, and to be good corporate citizens with social responsibilities.

    Today, in Finland where people have already moved into the mobile information society (MIS) with third generation wireless services, every effort has been made to develop a true knowledge-based society. A society where minds and ideas are cultivated within one holistic, national innovation system. A society where the Ministry of Education has not only introduced computers to all of our schools, but has also launched a campaign through school libraries to safeguard the continuity of Finnish literature and book reading. At least the Finns are in their web rush trying to maintain their collective wisdom.

    The attention must now focus on services, on content and on regular user's point of view. There should not be agony on the face of a Net user. Along the similar vein we are not asking any more, if the school is ready for PCs, but if the computer is ready for school.

    Finland has been a harbinger of the MIS future. It was also the first country where the government put in place a national information society strategy almost a decade ago. This includes a national innovation system where enterprises, government and research institutes form a seamless copartnership.

    The Finns have realised that you can not build the information society only on the information and communication technologies. Reasons for excellence can be found in a strong educational system with lifelong learning and investing at least 3 percent of the GDP in R&D. Of course, there has been also a strong motivation to use the ICTs, helped by an environment that has never been over-regulated.

    Lately, especially the foreign media has been trying to understand why Finland--- and where the Finns and their companies like Nokia and Sonera are taking us in the new wireless world.

    In the process the foreigners have first tried to find out who the Finns are. This is a more difficult undertaking than understanding the Net. However, many of the articles are building up a flattering cult-image for the country where, as the American Wired magazine put it, "the cultural mystery remains," and where "the Finns have stolen the future."

    It is true that the strength of Finland as a developer of telecoms, creating a national innovation system and putting in place a knowledge-based mobile information society, has its roots in her national psyche and history.

    Finland has appreciated national, collective knowledge from the earliest times.

    Wired should have taken a closer look at the Finnish roots depicted in her national epic Kalevala which has provided ideas for design, architecture and music, creating the Finnish Style.

    While other national epics are largely about war heroes, the heroes of the Kalevala are sages, "singers, blacksmiths and chanters. Among the magical songs' heroes is Ilmarinen the smith who forges Sampo, a mysterious wealth-creating machine.

    Väinämöinen, a central figure in the poems, is seen to be the symbol of national rebirth. A singer and player of Kantele, a folk instrument, is compared to Orfeus of ancient Greek mythology, who, like Väinämöinen, was able to enchant his listeners with his playing.

    The Finnish IT companies like Nokia and many other organisations reflect in their management style the Finnish culture. They have adjusted themselves to the ways the information society operates - from symphony orchestra model to jazz band model. In the music performed by a symphony orchestra we know what happens next. A jazz band, on the other hand, improvises and creates in its sessions constantly something new while it keeps on playing and jamming.

    The Finnish case has also shown that the Net or the integration processes like the European Union do not pose a threat to national identity. The vitality of nation-states is still needed. Furthermore, in Finland strong national spirit and individual independence have become a function of economic competitiveness in the global economy.

    Although the Finns might feel that when they are in the Net they are at the center of world, they have to admit that the ICT-based new economy has given Finland a stronger identity and new self-confidence.

    Of course, one can always ask, does a global company like Nokia need any more its home country. To this question Nokia's Chairman Mr. Jorma Ollila responds: "Nokia's corporate culture, its underlying ethos and the strength of its product are Finnish."

    Culture and traditions do not have to disappear in the web rush of the industrial organisations.

    Pasi Rutanen

    Ambassador

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