Page 9 - Finland and the United States - Partners in Investment, Innovation and Trade

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KONE is modernizing over 120 escalators in 34 stations throughout Washington, D.C.’s Metro transit system. The contract is part of the multi-year capital improvement program known as Metro Forward of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
FINNISH HIGH-TECH COMPANIES AND THE GOVERNMENT INVEST IN R&D&I
As a result of a strong commitment to R&D&I, Finland has become one of the leading knowledge-based economies in the world. Finland’s R&D expenditure has consistently been around 3% of GDP since the turn of the 2000s, which is among the highest in Europe. The private sector accounts for two thirds
of this. For example, many of the Finnish health technology companies spend over 10% of their turnover on R&D. The Finnish government funds R&D at around 1% of GDP. The government funding is mainly channeled through Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation.
The Finnish R&D sector employs 76,000 people, mostly researchers and product-development engineers. More than half of the employees work
in the private sector and the remainder work in the public sector, academic institutions, and nonprofit research organizations, such as VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The close cooperation between these sectors and organizations has proven to be an efficient and resourceful recipe for success.
FINLAND RANKS 1ST IN THE WORLD IN THE
AVAILABILITY OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
World Economic Forum, the Global Competitiveness Report 2016–2017
More information: www.tekes.fi and www.vtt.fi
Photo: KONE