JARI GUSTAFSSON’S MESSAGE TRUST IN INVESTING IN HUMAN CAPITAL IS KEY TO GROWTH

BY RUDINA HOXHA & JOSE PINTO

TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE sits down with the new Ambassador of Finland to Albania, His Excellency, Mr. Jari Gustafsson who presented his credentials to the President of Albania, Mr. Ilir Meta on 13th of November, 2020.The bilateral relations between Finland and Albania, objectives on this new appointment, Finland’s support to Albania in EU’s context and the wish of Finns to visit Albania more and more were some of the topics we discussed in this following interview.

“The key pillar for any civilized industrial country is, that you have to trust in investing in human capital.

I think this is the key message that I wanted to bring here,” Gustafsson said among others in this exclusive interview.

Full interview below:

The door is already open showing that tourism is increasing. There is an increased interest in visiting this country. This is a good opportunity. People are happy to come and visit Albania. If they are happy, they want to come again. If the Finns are happy, they come again.

The Finnish Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Jari Gustafsson

Your Excellency, you have completed a five-year term as Secretary General. What does this mean for an Ambassador and how much this can influence his/ her position?

All experiences prepare you to take on new challenges. So, the five-year term I accepted to serve as Secretary General gave me an important opportunity to work together with the government in trying to set the priorities for economic growth and new jobs, since Finland also went through a huge economic crisis in 2015. There was a lot of hope that once things would start to improve, the public sector and the government also would be able to do things better than in the past. Definitely you have to encourage the private sector for more investments, which is a big challenge. Therefore, the politicians should be willing to constantly work towards removing regulatory obstacles to help

entrepreneurs succeed.

What we did well in the last five years together with the private sector was that we succeeded in setting new targets for innovation, R&D, spending, and allocation of money from GDP for the innovation system which means that one third of that money should come from the public sector. Then we expect that if we allocate from the government’s side one third of the money, the rest will come from the private sector. This is one of the keys for future growth that there is a trust in the society, both private and public sector, that investing in R&D and innovation and in human capital, will bring about economic growth and wellbeing, not to mention new jobs.

If you look back, we have heavily invested in human capital and in the Finnish educational system and of we know that the results of these the things investments have been very good that we corrected. Since the new in the past. One of the key factors government came into power one is that though the foundations of the “ We have year and a half ago, the program Finnish primary education system were laid in the early of 70s, since heavily invested in human capital .” plan followed the compensation of these cuts and now we are back on track. then, not a single government has As we are trying to keep the done any cuts in money allocation in financial basis for the educational the education system. It has been a system steady, we are trying to do very sound financial basis from the so for the R&D and innovation. This government side to Finnish primary is the key. These are the things I am education throughout the decades. happy that we managed to do. Until the previous government made some cuts during the financial crisis. The key pillar for any civilized The government industrial country is, that you have also made to trust in investing in human some savings capital. in R&D expenditures I think this is the key message that and this was one

Laskiaispulla, one of the famous sweet Finnish pastry

I wanted to bring here. Greece, as an EU country, has benefited billions of euros from the EU recovery fund. Let’s see in which sectors they are going to put this money.

In this new position, what are your objectives regarding Albania, its relations with Finland, and Greece Mr. Ambassador?

For Albania, I would say that it is a nice moment for me to serve as an ambassador. Even though working from the distance, from Athens. That’s what I said to the President of Albania, Mr. Ilir Meta, if we work hard to enhance the bilateral relations between us, then we have to start with the people. If the Finnish people have the interest and they start to visit

Albania and spend winters here as many families have started to do that, they will invest to the second home they buy by the coast somewhere. If their experiences are positive, that would make the Finns gain more interest in your country.

Once more people put Albania on the map for travel and spend winters and summers in Albania as well, then we will have a good number of companies which are very experienced in taking quite big risks to come among the first foreigners to places where they have not been before. The Finnish companies were the first western ones to deal with the Chinese companies in the 50s. The Finnish companies are very experienced in working with different parts of Russia throughout the history, so they know how to deal with the countries where they don’t have yet experience. They are able to take such risks. But first of all, they need to place Albania on their map. Then duties the big challenge is that the on both sides. EU government has to create is trying to help a well progressing that kind of trust that the companies accession are encouraged to come, that they know that they are well received, that the regulations are “ I think this is a long term challenge for this country.” process and this government also is doing their best in fulfilling all the requirements. in place and they are appreciated, But this is an that the business practices are important issue even for Europe. If acknowledged. We are on the way of Albania could join the EU, that will getting this kind of interest from the companies since we are getting the interest of people.

How is Finland supporting Albania in the EU context?

This is something that Finland, among other EU countries, is very willing to see a good progress in this regard. As Albania is already a candidate, that means that they are duties on both sides. EU is trying to help a well progressing accession process and this government also is doing their best in fulfilling all the requirements. But this is an important issue even for Europe. If Albania could join the EU, that will increase the stability in the region that will help the other countries in the Balkans to work towards the same objective, so all the countries can jointly benefit in this regard. So, there is full support from our side as well.

Have you already figured out what are the areas where Finland will invest or can show interest in Albania?

As I said we have many companies which have interest in Albania. I know that the international and multilateral financial institutions like World Bank, EIB or EBRD are present in Albania. Everything related to infrastructure gives a lot of business opportunities for the Finnish companies. Of course, we do have companies which are internationally well-known and they are ready to go anywhere they feel well-received.

More and more Finnish tourists have visited Albania over the years. Do you have any recommendation for how to have a sustainable tourism in Albania?

This is a key issue that the side as well. people-people collaboration has Have you already figured out to be strengthened. what are the areas where Finland I think this is a long will invest or can show interest in term challenge for Albania? this country. The As I said we have many companies door is already open which have interest in Albania. I showing that tourism know that the international and is increasing. There is an increased interest in visiting this country. This is a good opportunity. People are happy to come and visit Albania. If they are happy, they want to come again. Therefore investments are needed from this country for the hospitality business sector, so the infrastructure can be as good as the people can expect. They don’t expect too much. The Finns know what can be expected. But they should be happy. The infrastructure and the quality of living should be up to that standard that they could decently expect. If the Finns are happy, they come again. We see that in Croatia and the Balkans, which started from the scratch. Their success stories can be copied by Albania, too.