Business Seminar at the Embassy of Finland attracted top of the line speakers
Brexit and the alterations it will cause to business are grave concerns to entrepreneurs in Ireland. To discuss the implications of Brexit, the Finnish Embassy in Dublin, the Irish Embassy in Helsinki, the Irish Business Club Finland, and the Finnish Business Club in Ireland organized a business seminar at the residence of Ambassador Jaana Teckenberg on Friday 6 April. High-level speakers and approximately 50 guests took part in the whole day seminar with active discussion about Brexit and business.
The seminar "Finland - Ireland potential ramifications of Brexit on trade" approached the subject from various standpoints, including the government, organisations as well as the private sector. Keynote speaker of the event, Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee shed light on the latest turns in Brexit negotiations and outlined the future for Ireland after Brexit. The Irish government engages daily with several stakeholders about Brexit, and Ireland is in the process of preparing for different outcomes of the negotiations. In her speech, Minister McEntee described the support methods for entrepreneurs and the infrastructure projects planned by the government to ensure that communities and businesses can prepare for Brexit. The Single Market and its integrity are priorities for Ireland, as they are for Finland as well.
Brexit and the Irish business
Excellent speakers offered various analytical and thought-provoking presentations. Manager of the Brexit Unit at Enterprise Ireland Anne Lanigan discussed the risks of Brexit at a practical level. Ms. Lanigan presented tools offered by Enterprise Ireland for businesses to evaluate and prepare for the future challenges. The main message was to encourage entrepreneurs to take action now, even though the outcomes of Brexit negotiations are still unclear. According to Lanigan, there is no need to start avoiding the UK-market, but to reduce dependency from it.
Possible commercial obstacles after Brexit are linked to logistics of goods, mobility of employees and potential customs and tariffs. Also issues regarding customers, funding, currency and regulation raised many questions during the seminar. Anton Scott, the Managing Director of SoftCo, discussed Brexit from the digital services provider's point of view. Even though company doesn’t sell physical products, its large customer base is widely affected by the complex impacts of Brexit. SoftCo is a significant actor for Finland; in the end of last year the company won a 17 million euro contract with the Government of Finland. SoftCo performs procure-to-pay processes for Palkeet, which is the Finnish Government Shared Services Centre for Finance and HR.
Brexit and its implications are full of uncertainty. Commercial actors wait eagerly for political decisions and clear guidelines regarding the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU. David Duffy, CEO of Property Industry Ireland, Ibec discussed Brexit in the context of property and infrastructure. According to Mr. Duffy, there are possibilities linked to Brexit in the property sector, but the negatives outweigh the possible positive effects. The Managing Partner of Mazars Group Mark Kennedy stated that Brexit is a nightmare for business people: no one really knows what is going to happen. Nevertheless, Mr. Kennedy refused to be too negative and reminded that the political decisions should be ready no later than in October.
The Finnish-Irish cooperation
There are active business clubs in Finland and in Ireland formed by members who have commercial interests in the respective country. Finnish Business Club in Ireland celebrates this year its 30th anniversary.
With the help of other club members, the Chairman of the Finnish Business Club Teemu Saloranta presented successful examples from the collaboration between Finland and Ireland. The examples demonstrated how the United Kingdom is often involved in the business deals even when it is not the point of departure or the destination, including functioning as a landbridge for logistical purposes.
The Ambassador of Ireland in Finland Maeve Collins stressed in her closing remarks the cooperation possibilities between Finland and Ireland. With Brexit looming in the horizon, Ireland aims to decrease its political and commercial dependency on the United Kingdom. In the changing EU, the Nordic and Baltic countries are highly potential partners for Ireland. The atmosphere of the event demonstrated the dynamic political and economic relationship between Ireland and Finland as well great cooperation.
Miia Pietilä, Intern, the Embassy of Finland in Dublin