Bayer: Responsibility targets commit us to doing good for Finland
There are numerous foreign health and welfare companies operating in Finland, and they do plenty of good for our country through jobs, investments and, for example, via the research they carry out with universities. Business Finland helps these companies increase their positive effect on Finland.
The German pharmaceutical company Bayer has paid over one billion euros in corporation tax to Finland over the last 10 years. Bayer is currently building a new production facility in Turku, which will cost EUR 250 million, and the company also employs more than a thousand people in Finland. Sustainable operations are enormously important to the company.
– For Bayer, Finland is a very important and good place to operate. One of the company's most important pharmaceutical production facilities is located in Turku, and it exports products to more than 130 countries valued at more than one billion euros a year. It is important for us to pay the taxes where the work is performed, explains Kati Nyman, head of communications, public affairs, science, and sustainability at Bayer Nordic Region.
Responsibility also extends to the company's products: with the hormone coil developed in Finland, Bayer aims to introduce modern contraception to 100 million women in developing countries by 2030 together with international aid organizations.
Foreign-owned enterprises are valuable to Finland
Foreign-owned health and welfare subsidiaries operating in Finland are of enormous importance to our country.
– These companies employ Finns and bring in capital, tax revenue, and export income. They also develop expertise, bring in new technologies and strengthen the health sector ecosystem, shares Tarja Enala, senior advisor in health and wellbeing at Business Finland's Invest in Finland.
In the same way that Business Finland helps Finnish companies, it also helps international companies operating in Finland and offers:
- program and ecosystem services, of which Personalized Health Finland and Smart Life Finland are health programs,
- assistance in finding partners, networking and internationalization; and
- innovation, research, and product development funding for various kinds of projects.
In addition, Business Finland's Invest in Finland promotes foreign investment in Finland.
– We help foreign health care companies grow their business in Finland by finding them new contacts and business opportunities on a very practical level, Enala explains.
Business Finland's aid translates to benefits for society as a whole
Over the years, Bayer has received aid from Business Finland for various development projects. Among the most recent examples is a clinical research development project that searches for new and better ways to develop clinical research.
In addition to Business Finland, Bayer also collaborates extensively with universities, startups and other companies and operators. The funding is also reflected in sustainability, which translates to benefits for Finnish society as a whole.
– Consequently, Finnish health care and ultimately society as a whole benefit from this cooperation, Nyman mentions.
Kati Nyman's photo: Leena Louhivaara
Tarja Enala's photo: Susanna Lehto