Business Finland's New Space Economy program together with the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries (AFDA) is organizing a business delegation to Milan and Genoa on 4-6 April, 2022.
This visit will strengthen the already existing collaboration between Finland and Italy in the areas of defence, space and situational awareness. This delegation program is carried out in cooperation with Leonardo and its major Italian partners.
Italy is active throughout the Aerospace, Defence and Security value chain and international collaboration is key to developing the activities in these domains further. The need for defence related co-operation in Europe is further motivated by the pan-European activities under the European Defence Fund. Italy also wants to promote the market uptake of situational awareness and cyber technology solutions both nationally and on an European level in order to safeguard the critical infrastructure. Italy's continued commitment to developing its space capabilities was further demonstrated by the investments of the Recovery and Resilience Funds in the fields of Earth observation and access to space where Italy has remarkable track records.
The cooperation partner for this visit Leonardo is a global high-tech company in the Aerospace, Defence and Security sector, delivering advanced solutions based on dualuse technologies, to meet both military requirements and civil applications. The company, leader in Italy in Aerospace, Defence & Security, plays a prominent role in major international strategic programmes and is a trusted technological partner of governments, defence agencies, institutions and enterprises. Among the major international programs, NH90 and ATR worth to be mentioned, since such assets are currently in service in Finland.
Leonardo already cooperates with the major Finnish defence industries in some EDIDP projects and is keen to further strengthen the collaboration, also through the EDF opportunities. Innovation, continuous research, digital manufacturing and sustainability are the cornerstones of Leonardo's business worldwide, highlighting that 12% of annual revenues are invested in R&D, equivalent to 1,646 MEUR in 2020.
This onsite visit is aimed for Finnish companies, who want to develop co-operation, bilaterally or on a European level, with Italian representatives in the below mentioned areas. Kindly notice that participation is limited on Day 2 (6.4) to 20 delegates. Note that only one company representative per company can join the visit due to COVID restrictions.
In the domain of defence, specific areas of potential co-operation (incl. EDF) cover, for example, multi-role helicopters (with a focus on MEDEVAC/HEMS), maritime patrol air surveillance/air defence radars, UAS and C-UAS systems as well as Trainers and LVC systems.
The protection of critical infrastructure needs both situational awareness and cyber security solutions. Space and drone based sensor technologies, big data and data fusion are necessary to protect our critical infrastructure.
To cover the expenses of arranging the delegation program, Business Finland will charge a participation fee.
Entire visit (4.-6.4.2022)
Or you can join only part of the visit, Day 1 (4.-5.4.2022) OR Day 2 (6.4.2022)
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 delegate nor meals outside the business delegation program.
We are closely following the Covid-19 travel restrictions and upcoming changes related to them. The trade mission may be postponed if restrictions are tightened in Italy. Kindly note that all delegates are required to have proof of two vaccinations to be able to take part in the visit program.