Australia’s Lydia Lassila has won a bronze medal in the women’s aerials final at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games.
The bronze is Australia’s second Olympic Medal at Sochi, and the sec on Olympic Medal for Lassila, who won a Gold Medal for Australia at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.
Lydia, along with husband, Lauri became Team Finland Ambassadors for Australia in 2012.
Read full story on her Olympic win here.
Australia is the first country in the world to have a Team Finland Network.
The Team Finland Network is an initiative of a committee of prominent Finnish business people, led by KONE CEO Matti Alahuhta, examining Finnish trade promotion and the internationalization of Finnish businesses.
Ludde Ingvall, Team Finland Ambassador, Sydney
At events on 19 April 2012 and 2 May 2012, in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, the Finnish Ambassador to Australia, Her Excellency Mrs Maija Lähteenmäki, officially launched the Team Finland Network in Australia. The events were jointly hosted by the Embassy of Finland in Australia, Finpro Australia, the Finland Australia Chamber of Commerce (FACC) and Finnair.
At each event, the FACC’s board member and secretary general Geoff Charnock opened by giving some details on the FACC and its activities, and was followed by Finpro Australia’s country representative Riku Laanti on the concept and objectives of Team Finland. The Finnish Ambassador finished off with a motivational speech, and officially launched the Team Finland Network in Australia.
Both events were received extremely well, attracting over 40 guests each. Among the guests were local executives from some of the largest Finnish companies, including Cargotec, Metso, Finnair, Fiskars, KONE, Konecranes, Stora Enso, Ahlstrom, Basware, F-Secure, Marimekko, Outotec, Outokumpu and Savcor. One of the objectives of the events was to initiate discussion about ideas for mutual cooperation, and the positive atmosphere seemed to set the perfect mood for that. During the Team Finland process FACC has also gained a number of new members and sponsors.
Ross Norgard, Team Finland Ambassador, Perth
Ludde Ingvall, who has previously been involved in the FACC’s activities, was appointed as the first Team Finland Ambassador in Sydney. As the two-time winner of one of the most challenging yacht races in the world, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Ingvall is extremely well known in Australia.
The “mining boom state” of Western Australia’s Team Finland Ambassador is Ross Norgard, a reputable Perth-based businessman and investment banker. Ross’ grandfather was originally from Finland and by getting involved Ross is hoping to give a little something back to the country of his family’s origin.
Freestyle skiers Lauri and Lydia Lassila are the Team Finland Ambassadors in Melbourne. Local celebrity Lydia is an Australian Olympic Champion (Vancouver 2010), while Lauri is a former Olympian and World Championship silver medalist, now working in IT.
Lauri and Lydia Lassila, Team Finland Ambassadors, Melbourne
The committee has plans for several Finnish trade promotion-related events, including a Team Finland launch in Perth.
Photos of the Team Finland Network launch in Melbourne can be found on our Flickr page.
Tickets are now available for the Team Finland Launch in Melbourne, which will be held on 2 May 2012.
Team Finland is an exciting new initiative of the Finnish government. It will change the way Finland and Finnish companies are promoted, both within Finland an abroad.
Team Finland was born out of a review of the way Finland’s external economic relations were being handled in the context of the internationalisation of business carried out last year by a working party chaired by Matti Alahuhta, President and CEO of Kone Corporation.
Their report was presented to Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, Minister of Economic Affairs Jyri Häkämies and Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb at Finlandia Hall on 19 January 2012. The working party found the current system of trade promotion was siloed and fragmented, and put forward an alternative network-like structure.
Join the FACC, the Embassy of Finland and Finpro at the launch the Team Finland concept in Melbourne. There will be short presentations from the Chamber and Finpro, followed by an official launch by the Finnish Ambassador to Australia, Her Excellency Mrs Maija Lähteenmäki.
Tickets are $80 (members) and $100 (non-members), which includes a a true Danish smörgåsbord meal from the Danish Club. Sponsors and corporate members may take a table of 10 for $720, and invite their customers, suppliers and staff.
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[one_fifth]When:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Wednesday, 2 May 2012[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth]Time:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]12:30pm – 02:00pm[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth]Where:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Danish Club, 428 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth]Cost:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Members: $80 (per person), Non-members: $100 (per person)[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth] [/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Sponsors/Corporate Members Table: $720 (per table of 10)[/four_fifth]
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Bookings can be made online with a credit card.
Numbers are limited to 50 people, with preferential seating allotment being given to members who book before 15 April 2012.
Tickets are now available for the Team Finland Launch in Sydney, which will be held on 19 April 2012.
Team Finland is an exciting new initiative of the Finnish government. It will change the way Finland and Finnish companies are promoted, both within Finland an abroad.
Team Finland was born out of a review of the way Finland’s external economic relations were being handled in the context of the internationalisation of business carried out last year by a working party chaired by Matti Alahuhta, President and CEO of Kone Corporation.
Their report was presented to Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, Minister of Economic Affairs Jyri Häkämies and Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb at Finlandia Hall on 19 January 2012. The working party found the current system of trade promotion was siloed and fragmented, and put forward an alternative network-like structure.
Join the FACC, the Embassy of Finland and Finpro at the launch the Team Finland concept in Sydney. There will be short presentations from the Chamber and Finpro, followed by an official launch by the Finnish Ambassador to Australia, Her Excellency Mrs Maija Lähteenmäki.
Tickets are $80 (members) and $100 (non-members), which includes a sumptuous 2 course meal from the Sir Stamford at Circular Quay. Sponsors and corporate members may take a table of 10 for $720, and invite their customers, suppliers and staff.
[raw]
[one_fifth]When:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Thursday, 19 April 2012[/four_fifth]
[clear]
[one_fifth]Time:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]12:30pm – 02:00pm[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth]Where:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Sir Stamford at Circular Quay Hotel, 93 Macquarie Street, Sydney[/four_fifth]
[clear]
[one_fifth]Dress:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Lounge Suit[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth]Cost:[/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Members: $80 (Individual) $720 (Corporate table of 10)[/four_fifth]
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[one_fifth] [/one_fifth]
[four_fifth last]Non-members: $100 (Individual) $900 (Corporate table of 10)[/four_fifth]
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[/raw]
Bookings can be made online with a credit card.
Numbers are limited to 50 people, with preferential seating allotment being given to members who book before 1 April 2012.
The Chamber is hosting luncheons in Sydney and Melbourne over the next couple of months to celebrate the launch of Team Finland in Australia.
Team Finland is an initiative of the Finnish Government, supported at the highest levels by government and industry. It involves a consistent and customer-oriented approach to Finnish trade promotion worldwide. The network structure will operate in Finland and abroad, and will be implemented by developing existing resources and focussing them better.
The Finnish Ambassador to Australia, Her Excellency Mrs Maija Lähteenmäki, will be the guest of honour and will officially launch Team Finland.
The tentative dates for the luncheons are:
Sydney: Thursday, 19 April 2012
Melbourne: Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Further information will be sent when the arrangements are finalised. It is anticiopated at this stage that the luncheons will be limited to 40 or 50 guests. So, it may be that the events will be by invitation only, with the first invitations going to members. If you are keen to attend, please renew your memberships in the next week or two.