Without innovation, Europe risks brain drain, warns Finnish minister
Finland's State Secretary for Trade and Industry, Anssi Paasivirta, has warned that Europe runs the risk of a 'brain drain' to Asia and the US unless it makes innovation a priority and invests more in education, research and business knowledge. Addressing an extraordinary bureau meeting of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Turku, South West Finland on 7 July, Mr Paasivirta reminded participants that Finland, during its tenure of the EU Presidency, would seek to encourage new approaches to innovation, which would focus less on new funding, and more on fresh thinking. 'Finland achieves the EU objective of three per cent GDP spending of R&D [research and development] and we know this is not enough. We need to think more about how we utilise innovation and how we can market innovation,' he said. What better place to reflect on innovation than in Turku, the second largest growth centre on the southern coast of Finland after Helsinki, and home to the R&D labs of several multinational telecommunications companies such as Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson, and Sonera. The region builds on a solid chain of training, research and production, involving private and public actors. The Turku Science Park is an example of shared ground and shared knowledge for creating value. It combines three universities, 50 research centres, 13,500 employees, and 750 companies in a single location. It thus links public and private investments, major construction companies, and the industry of the Turku business region with 18,000 enterprises. Noting the Turku example, Mr Paasivirta called for greater cooperation between universities, companies and the public sector, and for the private sector to become 'intensively integrated' into EU cohesion programmes. Meanwhile, UNICE, the grouping of EU industries, has welcomed the decision of the Finnish EU Presidency to make innovation a priority over the next six months. In a meeting on 6 July with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, UNICE President Ernest-Antoine Seillière said that it was of crucial importance for the European business community that politicians find a solution to the current EU governance crisis as soon as possible. Moreover, Finland must seize the opportunity and promote its own success story - that of becoming one of the most competitive economies in the world through economic reforms - in order to encourage the reform laggards within the EU. 'Your country has proved that structural reforms and putting an emphasis on research, development and innovation lead to growth and more jobs,' he said. While agreeing with the broad policies outlined by the Finnish Presidency, Mr Seillière cautioned that innovation cannot be fixed by a single set of policy measures. He underlined the need to for governments to start implementing their National Reform Programmes without delay. Innovation is also under discussion at the informal meeting of the Competitiveness Council, taking place on 10 and 11 July in Jryvaskyla, Finland.
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