Month: August 2024

Tourism benefits the whole of Finland – particularly tourism exports should be invested in

The cash flows created by tourism in Finland’s economy are largely dependent on domestic tourists, as international tourists only account for 11–12 per cent of Finland’s total tourism receipts. According to the Finnish Commerce Federation, both development support and target-oriented cooperation between municipalities and companies would be needed to accelerate Finland's tourism exports.

The government must take the trade sector into account in its growth policy: investments in innovation policy are needed 

In a challenging competitive situation, commerce requires the government to act in order to secure the growth and competitiveness of commerce in the budget session. The government should emphasise increasing productivity in the service sector by investing in innovation policy and encouraging companies to adopt innovations. In addition, regulations that cause costs for companies, such as reporting to the authorities, should be removed.  

Commerce will begin to slightly grow next year - the government will support the international competitiveness of commerce with its RDI policy

The decline in the retail trade’s sales volume has continued this year, and the Finnish Commerce Federation predicts that it will decline by approximately one per cent towards the end of the year. Next year, commerce sector sales are expected to begin to moderately increase. However, the forecast has its risks, and it is important for the government to ensure the international competitiveness of commerce through its RDI decisions and avoid cutting consumer purchasing power through tax policy. The soon-to-be tightening of VAT will not ease the situation, especially for specialty goods trade.