Timo Jaatinen, currently managing director of the Finnish Port Association, has been appointed as president of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF). He will take up the new post early next year.
Prior to joining the Finnish Port Association, Mr Jaatinen was managing director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks in Finland and at the same time director of public relations and business processes for the Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation. He has previously held several positions as Adviser to the Minister in several ministries in Finland.
Karl Jordan, FFIF chairman and CEO of the Metsäliitto Group, said Mr Jaatinen’s strong lobbying background, understanding of business and society as well as his experience of EU-level issues and participation in European industry organisations made him well qualified for the job.
“Promoting the forest industry’s operating environment in order to create operating conditions in Finland that are equal to those of the competitor countries will be the central task of the new president. At the same time, it is important to strengthen the industry’s opportunities for success. This will facilitate the creation of new business activities based on the use of a renewable raw material alongside the manufacturing of existing bioproducts,” said Mr Jordan.
Mr Jaatinen said strengthening the forest industry’s competitiveness was significant to Finland’s economy. “We cannot recover from the economic downturn if the operating environment of export industries is not looked after in a way that establishes new openings for the future success of Finland. The majority of the forest industry’s production is exported, and this further emphasises the importance of a cost-effective transport and logistics sector,” he said.
