On Thursday morning at 9:00 am, 31st October 1985, twenty-eight representatives of various Finnish companies and industries gathered at the premises of the Central Chamber of Commerce.
The Chair of the meeting, late Mr. Sakari Yrjönen, Managing Director of the Central Chamber of Commerce welcomed the participants and remarked that relations between Finland and Pakistan were free of difficulties, though their commercial ties should be further developed.
He also noted that the founding of the business council was a direct response to the challenge issued by the EVA – Finnish Business and Policy Forum – Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta to pay greater attention to distant cultures within Finland’s economic life.
Late Mr. Heikki Timonen, Honorary Consulate General of Pakistan, Finland , read a message of greeting from the Ambassador of Pakistan accredited to Finland (from Moscow that time), late H.E. Mr. Shahid M. Amin, Embassy of Pakistan to Sweden and Finland, in which the establishment of the business association was warmly welcomed.
In his own speech, Mr. Heikki Timonen stated e.g. “It is surely clear to all of us that commerce provides the most fertile ground for building relationships—both in culture and in politics. Trade is a game between people, and today we are setting the playing field for the teams of Pakistan and Finland. This is not an exercise in bureaucracy, but the creation of a new and effective channel for progress. The newly established Chamber of Commerce will be required to act with initiative and an open mind.”
The story of Finland Pakistan Business Council was officially started.
Many companies joining the founding meeting are still among the key players in the Finnish industrial history, also many names already disappeared after mergers and changes but let us share a few: Keskuskauppakamari (Finland Chamber of Commerce), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Wärtsilä, KONE, Valmet, Nokia, Outokumpu, Kemira, Machinery Oy, Rauma-Repola, Union Bank of Finland (SYP), Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP), Postipankki.
Today, 40 years later, we are one of the oldest still operating Finland-Pakistan trade related councils in the world, proudly continuing the legacy of supporting bilateral relations. We have worked hard, kept our minds open for opportunities, always thinking outside the box, and making companies in Finland and Pakistan to do the same.
We are supporting companies in Finland and Pakistan and since 2012 we have been bringing companies together under the umbrella of Finland Pakistan Business Summit – FPBS and that’s where the big celebration will also happen next April.
Today we celebrate the Founders — without all those visionary individuals and companies who gathered at the premises of the Central Chamber of Commerce forty years ago, this story would never have begun.
Thank you for being with us during the last four decades.
Story goes on.
