I found Helge Keitel almost accidentally when I wrote a comment in his blog and he answered. Thus started the North-South dialogue in the blogosphere. I visited his website and blogs and developed an appreciation for his works. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the global business and he has worked with many top companies too. He is from Finland which is one of the most successful countries in the world economy today. The Finns are famous for their innovation. If you visit his website, Digital Villages, then you will get a glimpse of his activities. I got interested to interview him because I feel that it is time, South Asian countries get more involved with Scandinavian countries like Finland. We can learn a lot from their success.
Here is the interview:
SouthAsiaBiz: Tell us about you and your company.
Helge Keitel: KK-Net is an independent consulting company specializing in high-tech, start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs with offices in Loviisa and Sotkamo. Loviisa is a small town with 8,000 inhabitants in the south-eastern part of Finland, one hours drive along the motorway to Helsinki. Finland and Helsinki might be better known in Asia through the mobile phones giant Nokia. Sotkamo, the location of our second office is a winter holiday resort area with 14,000 inhabitants plus all the tourists coming there to ski and to play golf in the summertime. We're a family company. Mrs. Irja Kallio is the Managing Director, my name is Helge Keitel and responsible for International Operations and Technology related issues. Olli Kallio is now located in France where he studies Industrial Engineering and Management. Samuli Kallio is also an owner in the company but is outsourced to the States Provinces of Southern Finland. We speak the following languages at KK-Net: English, Swedish, Finnish, French, Russian and some Italian.
SouthAsiaBiz: You have been involved with global business for nearly 30 years. What are the differences that you can see about Asian business now than 30 years ago?
Helge Keitel: My early learning steps to international business started through the German electronics giant Siemes Elektromedizin and the American Hewlett-Packard Medical Electronics Division. Then I moved north to Kajaani and we started a very successful operation at Kajaani Oy Electronics Kajaani's intelligent sensors for pulp bleaching control became a global success story. In the late 70's we were the biggest electronics exporter to Japan. I was responsible for the build up of the global sales and technical support network. The intelligent and patented sensors were used in the pulp and paper mills for process control, and that business is still going strong under the name of Metso Automation. The Metso Group is a world leader in paper machine technology. Today Finnish high-tech companies are struggling with the opportunities and threats caused by rapid globalization. Outsourcing of manufacturing operations, strategic alliances and partnerships with Asian companies are daily news in Finland. Factories and production lines are closed here and moved closer to customers and to locations with lower labour costs. Except for forests and lakes, there isn't much within customer base for those who are operating in niche market segments.
SouthAsiaBiz: Tell us something about the Asian people and Asian companies in Finland.
Helge Keitel: We learned a lot from the Japanese customers in the early days. Their passion and request for quality made us work harder, to innovate and construct better and more reliable products. Some of the most important lessons were learned at Oji Seishi pulp and paper mills in Japan, and stubborn as we are we succeeded. The biggest difference is that Finland is basically a scarcely populated desert with very little people per square kilometre. You told about your hometown with 10 million inhabitants. I'm used to live and work in places with 10,000 inhabitants. Finnish people have been great innovators and this country that was one of the purest in Europe at the beginning of 1900 has struggled to become a leading high-tech nation.
SouthAsiaBiz: Give us an idea about the technology sector of Finland.
Helge Keitel: Nokia Mobile Phones have a Finnish origin and their modern headquarters are located one hour away from my office. Nokia's success as a global player should also be shared and explained by numerous small and medium size (SME) start-ups and innovators that have created and provided critical components, software, concepts and designs to the global player. The influence of the Nokia success story has been immense for this country since the early 90's, but there are hundreds of smaller companies located all over the country creating great products and software. Some of them are now looking for ways to get out with their own gadgets and brands. But here, outside the factory door we have snow (in the winter) and green deep forests -- and no clients. Some of our leading SMEs are exporting 95 to 99 % of their products. The national market is especially small for companies focusing on niche markets. It should be noted that Nokia was close to go bust in the early 90's but their single-minded focus on mobile phones got them out from rugs to riches. Nokia was still in the 80's a conglomerate with pulp & paper, toilet paper production, tires, aluminium profiles processing, you name it and they got their act together and the result is astonishing.
SouthAsiaBiz: In the recent years, we have seen many European companies to South Asia. What are the areas that Finnish companies might get interested in India and South Asia?
Helge Keitel: No guide about Finland would be complete without mentioning Nokia. Nokia's exports alone are larger than the total paper industry - the previously dominant sector in the Finnish economy. Nokia remains the major player in the ICT cluster. But it is not alone. There are thousands of small and medium-sized companies in the cluster. Hundreds are direct first-tier suppliers to Nokia, known in Finland as the "Nokia network". Just to mention a few that are important and I will write more details later: Elcoteq, VTT, Tecnical Research Centre of Finland, Perlos, Efore, Electrobit, Foxconn, Exel, Polar Electro, CCC, Metso Automation, ABB, Botnia High-Tech, Genelec, Outokumpu Technology, Buscom, Idesco, SISU Enterprises, Beamex etc. As you know from the news from India there was an acquisition of Botnia High-Tech by an ICT company located in Bangalore. This is an example that Asian companies are eager to Invest in Finnish companies. Winwind Oy is another example. The Sterling Infotech Group 30.08.2006 announced its foray into renewable energy space with an acquisition of 40% of the paid-up share capital of Finland-based WinWinD, a pioneer in the manufacture of wind turbines. WinWinD, a technology leader in the wind energy space, supplies one and three Megawatt wind turbines based on low speed technology. SIG intends to tap the rapidly growing European, South America and Asian markets. For more details take a look at the 500 leading companies list in english: http://www.talouselama.fi/te500list_eng.te
SouthAsiaBiz: Tell us something about your website, blogs and Wiki. How are they helping your company?
Helge Keitel: Since joining the European Union in 1995, Finland with its population of 5.2 million and once viewed as a remote northern outpost, has become a robust market for a variety of international businesses. A Nordic country, Finland is currently the only EU member state to share a border with Russia. Finland has a unique position as the centre of a rapidly developing marketplace formed by north-western Russia, Scandinavia and the Baltic states, with about 80 million prospective consumers. Finland was also the first Nordic country to chair the EU in 1999 and the only Nordic country to replace its national currency, the Finnish mark, with the Euro in 2002.
That's the macroeconomics of our location. KK-Net wants to help our clients to find partners and strategic alliances in Asia and globally. We're looking for new ways to improve the South-Nordic cooperation. I think we need to learn more about the Asian business world and cultures. Modern communication technologies and grassroots direct contacts with people who know the local conditions are very valuable – in both ways. Earlier the Finnish focus has been more on Europe and East – West transactions. The global perspective is 360 degrees and we need to work with that scale in mind. It's impossible to do it alone. Social Collaboration and Innovative Networking over the Internet are first and cost-effective steps towards a deeper understanding of differences and also what we could gain through doing things together. Our websites, wiki's, blogs, GoogleTalk and other Instant Messaging channels are tools that help us to Talk, Learn and Understand. The value of Finland's gateway position between east and west was also noted when Finland became a member of the EU. Finns know how to do business in Russia and the Baltic States. Maybe we can open the gateway for South-Nordic cooperation. This might sound as a big challenge. But an idea spoken might a big number of followers.
In bangladeshi young businessman/small business think more but they cannot do it beacouse of they dont have support actual guedlines from goverment or ngo.
Posted by: khaled basel | November 8, 2006 11:49 AM | Permalink to Comment