OREANDA-NEWS. August 14, 2014. The value of the Finnish forest industry exports was up 1.6% and total production increased slightly from the corresponding period of 2013. European economic uncertainty is having an impact on the market for forest industry products.

Every effort must be made to ensure the competitiveness of the export sector in order to protect employment and prosperity, as Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.

The industry is seeking fresh growth from the bioeconomy. The major investments, which have a total value of some Euro 1.5 billion, the forest industry is planning in Finland are demonstrations of this trend.

“Forest industry investments should be spurred with competitiveness-enhancing legislation and forward-looking industrial policies. All additional burdens imposed on the industry erode competitiveness when uncertainty is the prevailing sentiment on the markets and in the economy as whole. Taxes and red tape that target businesses must be kept in check while sufficient incentives for investments are put in place,” Director General Timo Jaatinen of the FFIF emphasises.

“Investments in, among other things, provincial transport routes are absolutely necessary to ensure the steady flow of timber. Sector-specific, competitiveness-enhancing modernisations that correspond with the goals of the Pact for Employment and Growth must also be implemented in the labour market,” Jaatinen says.