The Team Finland Network is organizing a business delegation visit to the State of Michigan on 17-19 May 2022. The visit is led by Mr. Mikko Hautala, Ambassador of Finland to the United States.
Team Finland Business Delegation will visit the Upper Peninsula, Lansing and Detroit areas in Michigan. The target of the mission is to advance economic & trade relations and innovation partnerships with Finland's partner state Michigan, with a special focus on bioeconomy, smart forestry, wood construction (Group 1) and marine, ports, logistics, mobility and autonomy sectors (Group 2). Meetings will be arranged with business counterparts, Michigan state leaders and top university researchers. There will be two parallel programs for the Finnish delegation in two groups on Upper Peninsula, Lansing and in Detroit area.
Background
Finland and Michigan signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2020 concerning cooperation in clean technologies. Since then, Finland and Michigan based research institutes and industries have started collaboration in Forest bioeconomy, Maritime and Ports, Marine Autonomy, Batteries and Mobility sectors and established work groups with more than 100 participants in these thematic areas. The aim of the collaboration is to have top-notch bi-lateral research and development co-innovation projects underway and establish industrial partnerships. Through these initiatives Finland and Michigan work together to accelerate the transition to a green and sustainable economy. Participating in the Team Finland delegation will be an excellent opportunity to meet with the state partners in Michigan and meetings with Bioeconomy and Maritime work group partners will be included in the program.
Forest bioeconomy
Michigan is renewing the state's forest bioeconomy industry. Business opportunities for Finnish companies have been identified in furniture manufacturing, paper products manufacturing including paperboard and new investments on paperboard production, sawmill, veneer manufacturing and commercial logging sectors. Michigan is looking for an investor for a CLT Plant and Biofuel production.
The delegation will visit the best matching bioeconomy industries and research universities on the Upper Peninsula, such as VERSO where BillerudKorsnäs plans to convert Verso's largest facility, its Escanaba Mill, into a world-class, sustainable, fully integrated paperboard production site, with an estimated CAPEX of 850 million euro. FinnZone, a commercial launch pad for Finnish companies, Finlandia University, Michigan Technological University College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Forest Bioeconomy Collaboration Team and Michigan State University East Lansing developing Mass Timber, Biofuels and New biobased products.
Maritime and Ports, Marine Autonomy, Batteries and Mobility
The delegation visit program includes, for instance, the following site visits on Upper Peninsula: Great Lakes Research Center and Smart Ships Coalition with the only open test bed in the United States for testing of technologies on autonomous vessels and a meeting with Northwestern Michigan College - The Great Lakes Maritime Academy. In Detroit area, the delegation will visit University of Michigan (UM) Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, world leader in the education of engineering for the marine environment, UM Robotics faculty and one of the leading research clusters of the world largest automotive companies developing autonomous and connected vehicles. Visit to Ford in Detroit who is looking for biobased materials for cars to replace plastic materials. The Delegation will visit Port of Detroit consisting of multiple marine terminals handling general, liquid, and bulk cargo as well as passengers.
Who should attend?
This onsite visit is aimed for Finnish companies and research organizations whose focus is either
- Group 1: Bioeconomy, smart forestry, wood construction or
- Group 2: Marine & ports technology, automation & autonomy, mobility, software or logistics.
We welcome Finnish companies traveling from Finland to the US that are pursuing business opportunities in the US. Finnish companies' local representatives in the U.S. are also welcome to join the delegation.
Practicalities
We are closely monitoring the current geopolitical situation and aim to organize visits while taking into account the situation and security. In addition, we are closely following the Covid-19 travel restrictions and any possible changes related to them. The United States is open to fully vaccinated visitors, and they are exempt from quarantine, however, a negative Covid-19 test taken 1 day before the departure from first embarkation point is required from all passengers.
To cover the expenses of arranging the visit, Business Finland will charge a participation fee. The cost estimate is based on 10 companies participating in the visit.
- Micro Businesses and SMEs: 2040 EUR + 24% VAT per person
- Major Companies: 2400 EUR + 24% VAT per person
Business Finland will invoice the participation fee after the visit based on the actual costs. The invoiced fee will not exceed the amounts mentioned above. Kindly note that the participation fee does not include flights or accommodation of the participant nor meals outside the business delegation program.
Team Finland visit to Minnesota 1-3 June, 2022
The Team Finland Network is organizing a business delegation visit to the State of Minnesota on 1-3 June 2022 led by Ambassador of Finland to the United States Mikko Hautala.
The Team Finland delegation will visit Minnesota's capital Minneapolis and the connecting city of St. Paul, as well as the surrounding areas. This mission builds on a partnership Finland and Minnesota started in 2021, with a special focus on (1) clean energy and sustainability technologies, (2) digital technologies (Internet of Things) in different industry verticals, (3) agriculture and bioeconomy as well as (4) top-level research.
