The Finnish Business Council Malta is a new non-profit, voluntary organization with the aim of strengthening bilateral commercial exchanges between Finland and Malta in cooperation with respective governments, NGOs and other relevant organizations.

The launch of the Finnish Business Council Malta took place on 20th September in

the presence of Pia Rantala-Engberg, Ambassador of Finland to Italy and Malta, Michael Zammit Tabona, Ambassador of Malta to Finland, Jari Gustafsson, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, Simon Arrigo, Honorary Consul General for Finland, George Arrigo, Honorary

Deputy Consul General for Finland and Mikko Puhakka, President of the Council, as well as prominent local business people.

Historical cooperation between Finland and Malta has already been present over the years in the tourism and trade sectors, however there are now future possibilities ranging from innovations in Blockchain, to AI and EU opportunities (funding, networking, procurement).

This was discussed at a workshop hosted by AcrossLimits - a Maltese company that is starting operations in Finland, at their offices in Naxxar. A mix of government officials and business people attended the workshop from both Finland and Malta.

Angele Giuliano, CEO of AcrossLimits, mentioned that as two EU countries, there are clear opportunities that Malta and Finland can attack together in the Digital Single Market and through industry clusters that go even beyond European shores.

''There is already a lot of interest from both sides so going forward, enhanced co-operation between Finland and Malta will be very fruitful for both Finnish and Maltese businesses'' concluded the President of the Council Mikko Puhakka.