FECC project to take on a more business-orientated approach

Finnish Cleantech Cluster / Lahti Science and Business Park Ltd
Press Release June 26, 2008

A new project management team will take over the coordination of the FECC (Finnish Environmental Cluster for China) project on 4 August 2008. The project, which promotes the export of Finnish cleantech business and energy technology to China, is about to move on to its second - operative - stage. The operative stage will span over three years, during which the focus of the project will shift from establishing high-level contacts to negotiating actual tangible projects.  

The ultimate aim of the project is to cluster together enterprises that are interested in the Chinese cleantech market on one hand and the scattered Finnish cleantech sector that already operates in China on the other with a view to achieving commercial gains. Specifically, the project hopes to boost collaboration between businesses but also with different ministries - such as the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Finnish Ministry of the Environment - as well as with Tekes, FinChi, Finpro and China-based Finnish technology centres, such as Jykes, Lakes and TekInno (Shanghai) Ltd. The support of the Finnish Embassy and consulates is crucial to the success of the FECC.

The project is sponsored by Tekes, Sitra, the local governments of Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti and Uusimaa, private enterprises and the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries.

Ari Makkonen appointed as Operative Director
The business focus of the second stage of the project is heavily evident in the composition of the new project team. The operative director is Ari Makkonen, M.Sc. (Technology), who will begin in his new post on 4 August 2008. Prior to his appointment to the FECC, Ari Makkonen's most recent position was that of the Managing Director of Pöyry Environment Kft where he also sat on the executive board in charge of Europe's largest ongoing environmental project (wastewater treatment system for Budapest). "Ari Makkonen's particular strengths as operative director lie in his knowledge of international business and the cleantech sector as well as his almost 15 years of experience of Asian culture and customs," says Mari Pantsar-Kallio, Programme Director for the Finnish Cleantech Cluster, which coordinates the FECC project.

The FECC team will also benefit from new project managers who will be positioned both in Finland and in China. In Finland, the project manager will be Yu Wang, M.Sc., who is currently working on the finishing touches to his thesis on wastewater treatment technologies at the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. Yu Wang graduated from the Peking University Institute of Environmental Engineering in 2001.

In China, the FECC will be coordinated by Fenghui Yang, M.Sc., who has master's degrees in both environmental protection (Fudan University) and international relations (Hiroshima University). His special strengths include expertise in clean energy production and patent applications as well as his knowledge of public authorities and financial mechanisms.

First year's focus on chosen areas of the cleantech sector
Competition over cleantech exports has increased substantially in China over the last few years, and the second stage of the FECC project focuses heavily on Finland's particular areas of expertise.

During the first year, focus will primarily be on waste and slurry management, monitoring airborne particles, and boosting industrial processes. The objective is to create service concepts representing Finland's particular areas of expertise and to market the concepts in China, starting with Shanghai and the surrounding areas and gradually expanding the geographical focus to other cities and regions. Negotiations regarding waste management concepts have already been instigated with public authorities in Shanghai, and other sectors will be approached during August. A tangible goal is to build between 3 and 5 concepts during the first year. The FECC will be responsible for activating Finnish enterprises, for creating the service concepts, and for marketing them. As commercial negotiations progress, individual enterprises will take on more and more of the responsibilities.

The participating centres of expertise coordinate business ventures and concept generation within their own areas of responsibility in Finland. Experts in Jyväskylä (Jykes/Jyväskylä Innovation) will focus on energy technology concepts, experts in and around Helsinki (Green Net Finland) on environmental monitoring and energy efficiency in urban areas, experts in Kuopio (Kuopio Innovation) on air pollution prevention, environmental health and information technology, and experts in Lahti (Lahti Science and Business Park) on waste management and eco-efficiency concepts.

During the second and third year, the project will also expand to cover the energy sector, and similar all-inclusive concepts will be built regarding renewable energy, energy efficiency and decentralised energy production. Energy technology experts will be recruited during 2009.

For further information, please contact:

Mari Pantsar-Kallio
Programme Director
Finnish Cleantech Cluster
Tel. +358 50 402 6919
mari.pantsar-kallio(at)lahtisbp.fi