Metropolitan.fi
News from Finland in English
Finland is a country with vast forests. Currently it is estimated there are around 22 billion trees in the country, supporting a significant industry. Produce from chemical and mechanical forest industry makes for a fifth of exports of the country, a number that has steadily decreased from the 1960's.
Talks of a tunnel connecting the cities of Helsinki and Tallinn is something that continues to be a topic of discussion. The planned 100 kilometer undersea tunnel connecting the two capitals would be unsustainable as a business. Government officials say the boost to both economies would make up for operating losses.
Police in Helsinki, Finland has fined thirty Uber drivers during the christmas party season. The fines were given while regular alcohol testings. The grounds for the fines are that the national legistlation in Finland requires that Uber drivers have a taxi permit. They asked for permits from the drivers and fines were given if they had none.
The company developing the Sailfish Operating system and select mobile devices enters debt restructuring. Jolla will also need to temporarily layoff a substancial number of it's employees. The move comes as the investment round, ending in November, is behind schedule.
Finland has been lagging behind in economic terms for a while now. While some sectors, such as IT are doing fine due to the pressure to digitalise services, more traditional industries and service sectors continue to struggle. The Finnish Government today announced measures to improve the competitiveness of the Finnish economy. This includes universal cuts to employment terms in Finland.
The Finnish Commerce Federation writes about how economic policy should not be used as a tool to control the domestic market. Regarding the lackluster last decade of the Finnish economy, this is something well worth considering.