Growth in Finnish technology industries has stalled

Outlook for technology industry companies is regarded as poor

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The situation and outlook of companies in Finland's technology industries have weakened over the past few months.
      The technology industries are particularly concerned about the competitiveness of Finland and about the fact that industry productivity has not developed as expected.
      Over the past few months, both new orders and order-book volumes have started to drop, and the turnover of technology industry companies is expected to be lower in the autumn than in the corresponding period of 2011.
     
The grim prospects were revealed in a report on Finland’s economic outlook published by the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries on Thursday.
      ”The slow growth we experienced has stalled, and the outlook for the remainder of the year seems weaker,” says CEO Jorma Turunen of the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries in a press release.
     
According to CEO Turunen, development between companies remains very uneven.
      ”Of the main sectors, only information technology and consulting engineering have reported positive development”, Turunen notes.
      The companies that took part in the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries’ survey of order-books reported that the monetary value of new orders in the industry between April and June was 16 per cent lower than in the corresponding period of 2011, and five per cent lower than in the preceding quarter.
     
The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries notes that the problems of the global economy are also reflected in Finland.
      Even though the Finnish economy has not started to contract just yet, the risk is rapidly increasing.
      In a challenging market situation, the state should make firm decisions to support the renewal of industry and commerce, the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries demands.
     
Moreover, the competitiveness of Finnish corporate and income taxation must be improved by introducing a programme that spans several years.
      Companies should not be saddled with any more burdens.
      ”Growth and companies’ competitiveness should be the main concerns in political decision-making,” Turunen urges.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland´s competitiveness has declined sharply (21.2.2012)

Links:
  Federation of Finnish Technology Industries press release 2.8.2012

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