Merry Christmas and a successful new year 2019!
7Dear members and friends of FINNCHAM Austria,
FINNCHAM Austria wishes all members, partners and friends of FINNCHAM a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2019.
We thank you for accompanying us in 2018 and we look forward to the numerous cooperations and events in the coming year. An overview of the highlights of this year can be found on our website: https://finncham.at/en/gallery_en/
Best regards,
Ystävällisin terveisin
The board
FINNCHAM Austria
EcoTalk Nov 13th 2018
EcoTalk is a joint event format of the Finnish Embassy, FINNCHAM Austria and Sylvi Kekkonen Foundation.
The topic of the second EcoTalk of the year 2018 was “Disruption or Transformation? – how strategic changes accelerate industrial digitalization”. The event was organised on November 13 2018 at the residence of the Finnish Ambassador.
The members of the roundtable discussion represented both Finnish and Austrian companies: Sabine Lutz (Regional Sales Manager Europe, Nokia), Manfred Heger (Innovation & Portfolio Manager, Wienerberger) and Christian Hofmann (Topic Owner Industrie, Manufacturing u. Forstwirtschaft, Tieto). All three leaders not only discussed new trends and technologies, but also presented concrete examples of new, innovative products and business opportunities. As the moderator of the roundtable discussion functioned honorary consul Ferdinand E. Auersperg. The topic raised plenty of interest among the audience, and the panel members got numerous questions and suggestions. The exceptional atmosphere of the evening was accentuated by the lively musical performances of the pianist Johannes Piirto.
The event was closed in the early evening by informal networking and wonderful discussions, enjoying delicious canapes and drinks.
Company Presentation – Pöyry Austria 17.10.2018
On 17 October 2018 the members of FINNCHAM Austria visited Pöyry Austria, the Austrian subsidiary of the Finnish company Pöyry.
Pöyry provides intelligent and sustainable consulting and engineering solutions for the energy- industry- and infrastructure sectors. The service portfolio of Pöyry covers management consulting, as well as the entire project cycle from project planning and implementation to plant operation support. One of the main focus areas of Pöyry Austria is the international hydro consulting and water management. The services related to digitalisation, adjusting to the climate change as well as resource efficiency have an increasing importance in the field.
The evening began with the welcome speech of Hannu Kyröläinen, Ambassador of Finland. Thereafter Thomas Kriesch, the CEO of Pöyry Austria, gave a highly interesting presentation about the history, mission and current project landscape of the company. Pöyry manages an impressive project portfolio around the globe, and Ernst Zeller (Prokurist, Head of Hydro / Global Head Marketing and Sales Hydropower and Renewables) and Martin Fuchs (Head of Hydro Consulting) gave the guests a deeper insight into the topic in their inspiring presentations. It was particularly interesting for the participants to hear, how Pöyry helps its customers to manage challenges that are caused for example by the climate change.
Afterwards the guests had an opportunity for networking – and so ended the evening with intensive discussions, drinks and a buffet.
Business Award Finland Austria 2018
COOPERATION PARTNERS
The Winners are Planmeca Group/Plandent and ScanLang
The winners of this year‘s Business Award Finland Austria were announced in a festive award ceremony at the residency of the Finnish Ambassador on 9 October 2018. The aim of the Business Award is to highlight successful and innovative companies that have had a positive impact on the economic relations between Finland and Austria. The award is given jointly by the Embassy of Finland and FINNCHAM Austria. The jury consisted of members from the Embassy of Finland, FINNCHAM Austria, Business Finland and the Honorary Consulate of Vienna/Lower Austria.
After the welcome speech of Ambassador Hannu Kyröläinen, the cooperation partners of the event were introduced: Austrian Business Agency ABA, Hotel Bristol Wien, Residenz Josefstadt, and Schustermann & Borenstein Wien. All four companies presented themselves shortly.
The next highlight of the evening was the keynote speech of Dr Cattina Leitner, the Honorary Consul of Finland in Styria. The Honorary Consul provided not only interesting facts and figures, but also compared the special features and similarities between Finland and Austria in a very inspiring way.
The recipients of the Business Award Finland Austria 2018 were announced by Anna Ahlbom, the Vice President of FINNCHAM Austria:
- Planmeca Group / Plandent GmbH in the category ”Finnish enterprise having subsidiaries or business locations in Austria”. The award was handed to CEO Alexandra Lacek-Cipone ja product manager Kaddour Berkani.
- ScanLang GmbH in the category ”Enterprise that is selling Finnish products or services in Austria”. The award was handed to CEO Katja Jääskeläinen and Executive Partner Franz Michael Bauer.
Afterwards the evening continued with networking as well as drinks and delicious canapes.
Approximately 50 FINNCHAM members and honorary guests of the Embassy participated in the event.
Networking event with ScanLang on Sep 25th 2018
After the summer break, we met again in a cozy networking evening in Bistro König. The managing director of ScanLang GmbH, Katja Jääskeläinen, held a short presentation about the services of her company and about the feedback measuring device HappyOrNot ®, for which they are the official distributors in Austria. Afterwards, ideas and experiences were exchanged in relaxed atmosphere.
Review: Cultural evening with Elina Brotherus June 29th 2018
Before the summer break on a warm summer evening, we were able to participate in an exclusive talk by the internationally renowned Finnish artist Elina Brotherus about her exhibition “It’s Not Me, It’s a Photographer”. The impressive pictures and interesting stories behind them were a perfect end for the work week. Afterwards we walked to the shop “Best of Portugal”, where we enjoyed a wine tasting with delicious Portuguese food.
Review: Company presentation Mediclass June 7th 2018
The innovative medical center Mediclass invited us to a company presentation in their location in 2. Vienna district at the Prater on a wonderful summer evening. After the official opening, the founder and managing director Mr. Christoph Sauermann informed the numerous participants – also many members of our partner association ÖFG – about the service model and how Mediclass revolutionizes the traditional health care system. After the presentation, guests enjoyed the sunset from the terrace on the 5th floor accompanied by the buffet and received a private tour through the treatment rooms.
EcoTalk on April 11th 2018
The theme of EcoTalk this time was startups. After the wonderful musical performance of two Sylvi Kekkonen found awardees, pianist Justas Stasevskij and the violist Juho Valtonen, we had an interesting roundtable discussion about the success of the startups with the title „What defines the success of a start up? Best practise from Finland“. The three participants of the discussion, Mrs. Eveline Steinberger-Kern, founder and CEO of Blue Minds Company, Mr. Joel Hypén, CEO of the successful Finnish startup AdLaunch and Mr. Radoslav Mizera, Vice President of „Solved – The Cleantech Company“, a Finnish startup with an office in Bratislava, gave an insight to their experiences and challenges as entrepreneurs. The official program was rounded up with another performance of the two musicians. The evening continued with networking and tasting the delicious canapes and wines.
Networking Event March 20th 2018
Last Tuesday we gathered in in Bistro KÖNIG for an additional general assembly as well as for a traditional network evening. First the new name of our association „Handelskammer Finnland Österreich“ or in English „Finncham Austria“ was approved unanimously by the participants. Subsequently, our member Niko Adresson gave us an insight to his work at the credit department for multinational corporations at UniCredit and draw us into the exciting world of financing. In a relaxed atmosphere the members continued exchanging ideas after the presentation.
