Presentation of WFA area

Commercial life Education and research Culture and tourism

The West Finland Alliance area in a nutshell:
* There are 1.3 million inhabitants comprising 26 % of the Finnish population
* There are five regions, 23 sub-regions and 105 municipalities
* The land area is 65,000 sq km (twice the size of Belgium)
* GNP per capita index was 101 in 2004 (EU 25 = 100). There is an unusual dispersion of GNP among the sub-regions.
* The unemployment rate in 2004 was 9.2 % (EU 25 = 9.2 %).
* The EU's objective 1, 2 and 3 programmes are being carried out in the area
* Four universities and eight local units of universities are located in the area
* Seven polytechnics and two local units of polytechnics are located in the area
* Seven technology centres are located in the area

Commerce and industry:

The multitude of knowledge resources in the WFA area is a result of cooperation between globally active enterprises, networks of small and medium sized businesses, universities, polytechnics, and technology and knowledge centres. The total number of businesses is 62,000, with 525 000 workplaces. The WFA area has undergone a substantial structural change from traditional industry to information technology and from agriculture to the service sector.

World leaders in the metal and machinery-building industries are located in the area. Their products include mining and rock crushing machines, container handling equipment, marine diesel engines, forestry machines, metal equipment, paper machines, sailing boats, windscreen manufacturing machines and oil drilling equipment.
The Wood processing industry produces mechanical wood industry products, pulp, newsprint, fine paper grades and cardboard.
In the Automation and information technology sector, companies invest in research, product development and production in the area of mobile communications products, in programming and production automation, as well as engaging in digital content production.
In the electrical engineering sector, cutting-edge electrical control, energy production and distribution systems are developed and produced for the global market.
The foodstuffs production sector includes the country’s largest operator, alongside several medium-sized processors and vegetable growers.
The textile, clothing and leather industries produce significant volumes of fur, leather and textile products.
Freight transportation includes several significant railroad junctions. There are a number of haulage companies relying on the extensive road network, and there are also seaports of national significance at Rauma, Pori, Kaskinen, Vaasa and Pietarsaari.

The excellent flight connections ensure access to continental Europe within two hours – just in time for the start of a working day.
The most significant businesses in the WFA area are listed under Links/Enterprises

Education and research

The four universities and eight local units of universities have a total of 40,000 students. In technical sciences, the strengths are to be found in ICT, automation and mechanical engineering. The region’s universities have humanistic, commercial, economics, education, medical and social science faculties, plus the only faculty of physical education in the country. In addition, one of the WFA regions has an institute for rural research and education.

The seven polytechnic institutions and two polytechnic units in the WFA regions have education units for commercial science and engineering, natural resource studies, health care and social work, travel and catering services. They enrol 50,000 students per year. There are dozens of secondary schools.

There are seven technology centres, which are responsible for the national centre-of-excellence programmes in the WFA regions. These programmes cover energy and environmental technologies, food processing technology, health-care technology, ICT, materials technology, mechanical and automation technology, and paper-production technology. Biotechnology is gaining strong momentum. The Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT, has located many of its research institutes in the regions. Several major companies also operate their own research units, which exploit the universities’ expertise and thus promote the generation of new knowledge. The WFA regions receive more than 20% of the nation’s annual research and development resource investment.

Culture and tourism:

The versatile provision of outstanding cultural services strengthens the WFA regions’ vitality. Combined with the rich natural environment, it provides an excellent basis for the further development of tourism. The range of music on offer is wide – from folk music, tango, rock and jazz events to opera performances and symphony concerts. Theatres have faithful audiences, and almost every municipality has an open-air theatre of particular popularity. The Finns are eager readers and revel in the provision and varied resources of public libraries. Art is exhibited at public galleries and summertime art events. There is a range of sporting events of international renown. The conference centres attract experts to the region from all over the world.

The WFA area is a leading centre of lakeside, coastal, urban and culture-oriented tourism. There are sights and scenery to be enjoyed from the lakes to the flat land, from rivers to the coast, from grey granite churches to modern architecture. The Old Town of Rauma and the Sammallahdenmäki Bronze Age burial site in Lappi are cherished as UNESCO world cultural and natural heritage sites.