Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals has been impressed by Finland’s education system, good workforce, stability, infrastructure, and quality of life.

The government of Finland is committed to increasing the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. Last year the government introduced a fast track process for major investments as part of its FDI promotion policy. This year it has announced a cut in corporation tax from 24% to 20%, which will come into effect from the beginning of 2014.

The tax cut is a very positive signal that makes Finland more competitive especially at the European level as an investment destination for international companies, according to Petri Peltonen Director General of the Department of Enterprise and Innovation at the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The government’s target is that the FDI coming to Finland will be higher than the EU average by the year 2020.

Bayer values Finland

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals relocated its Northern Europe office from Denmark to Finland in 2011 and has been very satisfied with the move. According to Bayer’s managing director Oliver Rittger, Finland’s strengths are an education system that produces a good workforce, the country’s stability and good infrastructure, and a high quality of life. These are some of the reasons why Bayer is continuing its investments in Finland.

Finland’s president, prime minister and minister of economic affairs all share the view that foreign investment is an important driver for the growth of the economy, according to Tuomo Airaksinen, CEO of Invest in Finland. Despite the economic uncertainty in Europe, which has made many companies cautious in their investments, Airaksinen believes that this year is already looking better for Finland. “When some good news comes from Europe, the investment backlog will start to be released,” he says.

Finland’s fast track for major investors is already in use and the first news about new investments will be made when the companies involved decide to make their announcements, according to Airaksinen.

Source – Invest in Finland

The emergence of popular movements for reform were the driving force behind major gains in the Middle East last year, according to Freedom in the World 2013, Freedom House's annual report on the state of global freedom.

However, a number of regions experienced setbacks due to a hardened and increasingly shrewd authoritarian response to these movements.

Regions: Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe

The Swiss investment group Genint is to build a private university in Marbella with an investment of €7.4 million.

It will be the second private university in Andalusia after the Loyola Centre in Seville, which was opened by Abengoa.

The first phase of the project will consist in the refurbishment of the building in which the new centre is to be set up, and the opening is scheduled for next autumn.

According to the project managers, the University will have an initial offer of four degrees: International Communication and Multimedia; International Relations; International Businesses; and Advertising and Public Relations. However, the aim is to offer up to 15 degrees by the 2014-2015 academic year.

The city of Marbella currently has more than 3000 university students and more than 1800 baccalaureate students.

Kip Beckman is looking closer into a book that everyone with interest in China and the global economy should read.

We are talking about Daron Acemoglu’s and Jim Robinson’s very readable oeuvre “Why Nations Fail”.

Furthermore, Hubert Fromlet launches some serious concerns about the intended joining of the euro/EMU by Latvia already next year. Changing exchange rate regimes belongs to the most important decisions of economic policy. Some re-thinking seems to be necessary, also by the deciding politicians. Will they ever learn?

Read on! Enjoy at Chinaresarch!

Acquisitions by Richter Industries and Surfactor are expected to boost turnover by EUR 50 million.

Two German family-owned companies, Richter Industries and Surfactor, have invested in Finnish factories and engineering expertise during the past year. The acquisitions are expected to bring the two companies about EUR 50 million in turnover in the coming years.

Richter Industries has acquired a factory which produces paper machine rolls and roll maintenance, from the Finnish company Mesera Yhtiöt. The factory is located in Kotka, south-eastern Finland. Richter Industries manufactures retail store fixtures, point-of-purchase displays, and display racks. According to Jari Hämäläinen, manager of the factory which is the acquisition will strengthen the order books of the factory.

Surfactor invests in machines and equipment

Last year the Finnish company Dynea Chemicals Oy sold its paper overlays business and assets in Kitee, eastern Finland, to Surfactor Finland Oy. Surfactor Finland Oy is an affiliated company of Surfactor Germany GmbH, a leading manufacturer of paper overlays for the plywood industry as well as the furniture, transport and construction industries.

According to Günther Martin, CEO of Surfactor, the company has invested in new machines and equipment at the Kitee plant, and also hired some more staff. The Kitee plant produces phenolic surface films and its turnover in 2011 was EUR 17 million. Surfactor Finland’s turnover was EUR 49 million in 2011 and it had 136 employees.

Phenolic surface films (PSF) are resin impregnated industrial overlays designed to improve the surface characteristics of wood-based panels, used by the concrete formwork, transportation, building construction and furniture industries.

Sources: Richter Industries

Japan continues to lead the Asia-Pacific in research output. But it could be overtaken by China in the coming years.

The top institution in the region in 2012 was The University of Tokyo, but it will almost certainly lose its crown to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2013. Indeed on a rolling 12-month window to mid-March, the CAS has a substantial lead.

These are the lead conclusions of the 2012 Nature Publishing Index (NPI) 2012 Asia-Pacific, published today in Nature.

The NPI 2012 Asia-Pacific supplement also reports:

• The region's scientists are publishing more high quality basic science than ever before: more than 28% of articles published in the high quality Nature research journals have an author from the Asia-Pacific region, compared with 19% in 2008.

• Japan's publication output increased despite the diversion of resources into rebuilding infrastructure after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

• China is still in second place, but it is growing faster than Japan and may take first place within a couple of years. Most Chinese institutions in the Asia-Pacific top 200 improved their ranking in the past year.

• Australia is in third place, and leads the region in earth and environmental science publications. Its top institution, the University of Melbourne, rose to sixth in the Asia-Pacific region. James Cook University in Townsville continues to be the fast improver, up at 30th in 2012 from 351st in the region in 2008.

• South Korea sits firmly in fourth place with almost double the output of fifth-ranked Singapore. Its publication output dropped slightly in 2012, but new president, Park Geun-hye, plans to increase investment in R&D as a proportion of GDP to 5% by 2017.

• Singapore had the greatest proportional increase of any of the top eight countries over the year. The National University of Singapore is the highest ranking institution in Singapore.

• This year, Taiwan consolidated the sixth spot, ahead of India and New Zealand both of whose output dropped slightly.

The NPI Asia-Pacific 2012 has been released as a supplement to Nature today. It measures the output of research articles from nations and institutes published in the 18 Nature-branded primary research journals over the calendar year. The supplement provides a snapshot of research in the Asia-Pacific in 2012.

To see the latest results for the region, and the Nature Publishing Index Global Top 100, visit the Index website

The data posted on the website is updated every week with a moving window of 12 months of data.

Ever since antiquity, corruption has been one of the most widespread and insidious of social evils. When it involves public officials and elected representatives, it is inimical to the administration of public affairs.

Since the end of the 19th century, it has also been seen as a major threat in the private sphere, undermining the trust and confidence which are necessary for the maintenance and development of sustainable economic and social relations. It is estimated that hundreds of billions of Euros are paid in bribes every year.

The Council of Europe exists to uphold and further pluralist democracy, human rights and the rule of law and has taken a lead in fighting corruption as it poses a threat to the very foundations of these core values. As it is emphasised in the Criminal Law Convention, corruption threatens the rule of law, democracy and human rights, undermines good governance, fairness and social justice, distorts competition, hinders economic development and endangers the stability of democratic institutions and the moral foundations of society.

The approach of the Council of Europe in the fight against corruption has always been multidisciplinary and consists of three interrelated elements: the setting of European norms and standards, monitoring of compliance with the standards and capacity building offered to individual countries and regions, through technical co-operation programmes.

The Council of Europe has developed a number of multifaceted legal instruments dealing with matters such as the criminalisation of corruption in the public and private sectors, liability and compensation for damage caused by corruption, conduct of public officials and the financing of political parties. These instruments are aimed at improving the capacity of States to fight corruption domestically as well as at international level.

The monitoring of compliance with these standards is entrusted to the Group of States against Corruption, GRECO.

The Swedish furniture multinational, IKEA, has recently installed its fifth photovoltaic production plant in Spain.

The new facility is situated on the roof of its Jerez store and on its car park canopies. Total investment in the new plant, which features 10,164 solar panels, stands at 4.6 million euros.

The photovoltaic facility at IKEA Jerez joins the list of others that the company has installed at Castilleja de la Cuesta (Seville), A Coruña, Sabadell and at the IKEA Distribution Centre in Valls (Tarragona).

In late 2007, the company launched its “IKEA renewable” which sought to improve energy efficiency in IKEA stores and increase the production of renewable energy. This project has seen an investment of of 7.7 million euros to date, with a saving of 11,795 MWh, reducing the energy bill by 1.8 million euros a year.

As far as the production of renewable energy is concerned, IKEA is committed to on-site production at IKEA stores. Over the past year, IKEA stores have produced 640 MWh of solar thermal and photovoltaic energy. IKEA Jerez is the first commercial project in Spain to install a geothermal facility to heat and cool the building.

All the electricity consumed at IKEA Jerez and in other company stores is from 100% renewable sources and, since 1 January 2010, is certified as such.

Establishing a business in Finland makes it easier for Russian companies to enter the European markets.

A Russian company that manufactures wind turbines is starting operations in Mikkeli, eastern Finland, according to Ville Paasanen who is a board member of the company and also the technology officer of the the Miktech innovation and technology center. The company is planning to focus on product development over the next year before entering the Finnish, European and North American markets.

According to Paasonen, locating a business in Finland makes it easier for Russian companies to enter the European market. Productivity is better in Finland than in Russia and the market value of products manufactured in Finland is also higher. The Russian wind turbine manufacturer will be using subcontractors in the Mikkeli region as much as possible.

Better productivity, higher value

“The cost of labour is higher in Finland but productivity is better. Also products with the label Made in Finland attract a better price even on the Russian markets than those with Made in Russia,” says Paasonen.

Finland also offers better logistics. “From Finland you can get to Germany in a day whereas in Russia it can take a week to get to Moscow,” says Paasonen.

Miktech provides business development services for technology companies and coordinates diverse projects mainly in its four focus areas: technology and wood product industry, digitization, bioenergy and environmental safety.

Source - Miktech

Europol report warns of a new breed of criminal groups exploiting the economic crisis and the internet.

In the most detailed study ever undertaken of its kind in the European law enforcement community Europol has identified an estimated 3,600 organised crime groups currently active in the EU.

Read more here

NCC has been commissioned to construct a new ferry harbor, as well as two new bridges, in Larvik, 120 kilometers north of Bergen.

The order is valued at approximately SEK 250 million and will be registered among orders in the first quarter of 2013.

The project is part of the refurbishment of the ferry service between Lavik and Oppedal, which in turn is part of the E39 expressway and the most important link between the north and south parts of Western Norway.

“This will be a central part of the refurbishment of the road and ferry network in this part of Norway, where we already have several other road and tunnel projects in progress,” says Henning Simonsen, District Manager at NCC Construction Norway.

The project comprises a new harbor area in Lavik, a new section of the E39 expressway near the beach area and a new bridge and intersection to public highway 607. In addition, the existing E39 through Lavik will be repaired. All this entails 1,8 kilometer of road, including 760 meters of new pedestrian and cycle paths. Parking spaces will also be built at the harbor area.

The project is scheduled for completion in August 2015.

The project will be registered among orders in the NCC Construction Norway business area.

By 2017 a new LEGO factory in Jiaxing, China is expected to be fully operational and have approximately 2000 employees.

The LEGO Group has announced plans to build and operate its own LEGO factory in China. The factory will supply products for the growing Asian market. Construction is expected to begin in 2014.

“It is our strategy to have production close to our core markets in order to secure short lead-time and world class service to our customers and consumers, and it has proven a successful strategy. Asia – including China – is a future core market for the LEGO Group and therefore I am excited to share our plans for the new factory. Having full control of the production process is essential to deliver products of a consistent high quality and safety and in harmony with our values” says Bali Padda, COO and adds:

“In addition by placing a manufacturing site in the region we reduce our environmental impact as we will reduce the need for transporting products from Europe to be sold in Asia.”

State-of the art factory

The factory will be built in the city Jiaxing, right in the middle of the Yangtze River Delta and located approximately 100 km from Shanghai where the LEGO Group is planning to locate a regional distribution centre for Asia.

“The new factory will be built and run with the same technology, automation and standards for employee safety and product quality as our LEGO factories in Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico, and it will have a distinct LEGO look and feel.” says Michael McNulty, Senior Vice President, Procurement.

Producing for Asia only

The LEGO Group currently does not operate its own manufacturing facility in China, but with the new production site including moulding, decoration and packaging facilities it will have a supply base for future growth in Asia. LEGO Group sales in the region have grown by more than 50 percent annually in recent years.

 “Based on our current expectations for growth in Asia, the factory should be able to supply approximately 70-80 percent of all the LEGO products sold in the region in 2017. All products made in the new factory will be sold in Asia,” says Michael McNulty.

Location with focus on employees

The location of the new factory, Jiaxing, has a population of 5 million and it has been chosen for several reasons, says Michael McNulty:

“It is close to our regional distribution centre and the city has all the facilities and infrastructure needed. But in addition, we believe the location is perfect in regards to securing the best environment for future LEGO employees. The city is the strongest possible match with core LEGO values, and the plans for a sustainable city development is well organized”

Jiaxing has been named “National Health City”, “National Model City for Greening”, “National Garden City”.

Facts

·  By 2017 the factory is planned to have an area of approximately 120.000 square meters

·  In 2015 the factory is planned to have approximately 200 - 400 employees

·  By 2017 the factory will be fully operational and is planned to have approximately 2000 employees

·  These numbers depend on the growth and demand for LEGO products in Asia and can be adjusted.

·  The investment will amount to approximately a 3 digit million Euro figure

Time plan:

·  Construction of the factory is planned to begin in early 2014

·  By 2017 the factory is planned to be fully operational

Jiaxing:

·  Jiaxing has a population of 5 million and a catchment area of approximately 15 million.

·  There are two universities and numerous technical colleges located in the city.

·  Jiaxing is ranked 25th in the city ranking of “100 best cities for foreign investment” and has earned the titles of ‘National Civilized City’, ‘Chinas outstanding Tourist City’, ‘National Health City’, ‘National model city for greening’, ‘National garden city’ and national innovation pilot city.

·  Jiaxing is right in the middle of the Yangtze River Delta There are numerous multinational companies located within  Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone

·  Jiaxing is located approximately 100 km (1.5 hours) from Shanghai

The shallow waters and high wind speeds on Finland’s coastline are ideal for wind power generation.

Finland has by far the greatest potential for the development of offshore wind power in the Baltic Sea region, according to a study by Baltic Sea Region Energy Co-operation (BASREC). From the 99 most favourable areas for offshore wind power generation identified by the report, 66 are located in Finland.

The study ranks possible offshore wind farm locations according to wind speed, water depth and distance to the shore. According to the study, Finland’s “golden areas” benefit from shallow waters and high wind speeds.

North Finland has highest capacity

North Finland on the Gulf of Bothnia coast has the highest wind power capacity in the Baltic Sea region with 31,200 MW, followed by South Finland with 27,400 MW. Central Finland has a capacity of 11,100 MW and and South-east Finland 2000 MW.

BASREC’s main objective is to promote sustainable growth, security and prosperity in the region and supports therefore the creation of competitive, efficient and well-functioning energy markets. The study has been commissioned to serve as a key input for strategic actions to promote offshore wind power in the Baltic Sea Region during the coming years. The study was carried out by GL Garrad Hassan ja Deloitte.

Source: BASREC - Photo: (c) Siemens press picture

Agra is the most popular tourist destination in India. One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the world renowned 'Taj Mahal', is located here.

It is very close to the country capital Delhi. Agra is not only famous for its historical places, but also for its rich art and culture.

Tourism is the major contributor to the economy of the city. Apart from Taj Mahal there are other famous destinations such as Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort, all belonging to the Mughal era. It also has the soor sarovar bird sanctuary and other tourist places such as Itmad-ud-Daulah and Sikandara.

Thus, tourism is the major sector to invest in for foreign investors. The FDI in this sector is 100% through the automatic route and there are no hassles involved. Also, as this sector is ever evolving the growth prospects are great.

Agra is also known for its magnificent handicrafts.  Brass wear and carpets from Agra are renowned all over. Carpets of good quality and variety are available here. It is also renowned for its jewelry and exquisite zari and embroidery works. These works are most sought after worldwide, hence this is one sector that offers lots of scope and promise for investors.

Agra also has many garment and apparel manufacturers which undertake exports.

There are also many wholesale industries and manufacturers in Agra which cater to a vast market. Thus, the garment production and export industry is a viable option of investment for foreign investors.

The automobile industry is also an important sector in Agra. Many major players in this field have set up operations in Agra. This sector is growing tremendously in India. Also, as many foreign automobile players are setting up their shops in India, this industry is set to grow a lot and offers good investment potential. 

The leather industry is also another sector. Agra has some of the head manufacturers and exporters in this field. The footwear industry is also a growing field in this sector. Exports are also a thriving sector in the leather industry. There are thus plenty of options for foreign investment in this area.

As a result of growth and expansion this city is engaging more in the development of its existing infrastructure. 100% FDI investment is permissible in this sector. Transport avenues such as roads and rail are also being spruced up. All this presents a good opportunity for foreign players to foray in this sector. Their expertise will be an added advantage for these players to be chosen. Hence, this is a great opportunity for foreign investment.

The government has also taken initiatives to encourage FDI (foreign direct investment) in India. The FDI norms have been eased in all sectors to facilitate foreign investment. Thus, it is easier for foreigners to invest money in India now than it was earlier.

Agra is thus a very good investment option for foreign investors. Tourism is the major grosser, but other industries are also catching up and offering great potential for foreign investment.

NCC has been commissioned to construct a large part of the first phase of the waste-based energy-producing plant Amager Bakke on behalf of the contractor I/S Amager Ressourcecenter (I/S Amagerforbrænding).

The contract value is SEK 250 million and the order will be registered in the first quarter of 2013.

The contract includes construction site management, ramming and construction of new silos as well as earth and concrete works during the first phase of the construction of Amager Bakke.

The basic contract amount is SEK 250 million but, including possible additional assignments, the total contract value could reach as much as SEK 307 million.

Amager Bakke, which is located in Copenhagen, will be a modern energy-producing plant for waste management and resource recycling, designed using state-of-the-art green technology. The facility will replace a current waste-incineration plant, which is more than 40 years old.

The architect behind the plant is the internationally renowned Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who has also designed an artificial ski slope on the roof of the structure.

The contract will be registered by the business unit NCC Construction Danmark during the first quarter of 2013.