From Bochum to Kemijärvi

Helsinki Times 14.3.2008

What does Kemijärvi in Lapland, Finland have in common with the city of Bochum in the state of Nordhein-Westfalen, Germany?

Just a few months ago many would have had to think twice about possible links. After the news that broke before and after the New Year, the connection is clear - at least to every Finn. In both cities a large company has shut down a factory with great importance to the local area.

Nokia's cellphone factory in Bochum employs 2.300 people. At first glance the impact of closing the Stora Enso chemical pulp factory in Kemijärvi seems minor compared to Bochum, since the Kemijärvi factory employs directly little over 200 people. However, the overall effect on the area has been estimated to be over 1.700 jobs. In sparsely populated Lapland that is a great number. The population of Kemijärvi is approximately 9.000, whereas in Bochum it is around 395.000.

Globalisation is the word one curses on these occasions in Finland. In Germany the swearwords seem to be Nokia and Finland. Here one of those who came under heavy fire was the Government, whom as part-owner of the company the Opposition found to be responsible for the incident. And so the Government has already promised massive investments to the area. What has the German Government done? It has found its best remedy to be to the defamation of Nokia and to steer the conversation about social liability towards blaming a big business, which is with no doubt politically rational.

Shutting down a factory ‘here' often means the opening of another ‘there' in this era of globalisation. So in Romania Nokia is being blessed and perhaps that is soon the case with Stora Enso in Brazil and Uruguay.

The birth of new jobs is not a piece of news though, whereas the loss of jobs is. A loss of 200 jobs can lead to a massive popular movement but information on 100.000 new jobs could not make people care less. According to a fresh estimate the decrease of jobs in Lapland would be, after the compensations in the area, not more than about 90. The statistics show that employment has continued its rapid growth in Finland. In January the employed labour force was 100.000 people more than the year earlier.

Adaptation has, through history, been one of the vital necessities for Finland. So too with globalisation. Adaptation does not have to mean weak-willedness and submission. Instead it has to mean improvement of top know-how, reorganizing the structures of economy and entrepreneurship when needed and making work-related immigration flexible. It has to mean following the current interests and undertones and focusing on branches where we can at all times benefit from the possibilities created by the international operating environment - thus creating jobs in Finland as well.

People who want to come to Finland must not be doubted. The question is not how they are going to benefit from us. The question is what can those people give us, and how we can meet them halfway.

Hannakaisa Heikkinen

The Writer is a Member of Finnish Parliament, a Member of Parliament's Employment and Equality Committee and the chairwoman of the immigration policy working group of the Finnish Centre Party.