RAIMO SAILAS IN OULU: ECONOMIC GROWTH IS A NATIONAL CHALLENGE


Press Release April 19, 2007
Free for publication at 4 p.m.
       
       
            
       
       Raimo Sailas in Oulu: Economic growth is a national challenge
       
       Technopolis, the nationwide technology center operator,
       celebrated its 25th anniversary.
       
       Raimo Sailas, Permanent Secretary of State, highlights the
       achievement of sufficient economic growth in Finland as a tough
       challenge for the nation. According to Sailas, it will require
       substantial and continuous improvement in productivity and
       efficiency, in both the corporate and public sectors.
       
       In his address at the 25th anniversary celebration of
       Technopolis Plc, Sailas underlined that the growth requirement
       for production and the economy is necessitated by the increase
       in pension costs, the improvements in benefits and services
       agreed in the government program and the current account surplus
       target set for the national economy.
       
       “To maintain a surplus national economy with public expenditure
       on the increase, we need to apply an economic policy that
       supports very strong growth in output. This becomes all the more
       important when we know that the working-age population will
       begin to shrink around 2010 and decrease during the next decade
       by as many as 200,000 people,” said the Permanent Secretary of
       State.
       
       Pertti Huuskonen, President and CEO of Technopolis, a nationwide
       technology center operator and one of Europe's largest
       technology center companies, promised that Finnish technology
       centers will do their part in facilitating growth and well-being
       by promoting the competitiveness and success of high tech
       companies.
       
       “Technology centers have - through their collaboration with
       companies, universities and cities - played a key role in
       supporting the transformation of Finland during the past 25
       years into a high tech country of international standard. The
       future holds major challenges for us, since we no longer have
       the head start we used to have. Fortunately, however, we do have
       diversified and broad-ranging competence in all the critical
       fields of high technology, an excellent track record in scoring
       successes, and resources that have grown to remarkable
       proportions," said President and CEO Huuskonen.
       
       According to Huuskonen, the Technopolis Group has a unique
       service concept on offer, with one organization serving Finnish
       high tech companies all over Finland and in the future abroad as
       well. This gives Finnish companies a clear edge over
       international competition.

       Technopolis is expanding

       Technopolis, a company that started out a quarter of a century
       ago in Oulu under the name Oulun Teknologiakylä Oy, is
       continuing its own growth path - and a strong one, too. The
       company has extensions pending or under construction in all of
       its current operating locations. Technopolis is also preparing
       to construct a technology center in St. Petersburg, Russia. The
       company already operates in the city, presently in leased
       premises.
       
       During its first years, Technopolis operated as very much an
       integral part of the business policy of its then-principal
       owner, the City of Oulu. Its objective was to support the growth
       of Oulu into an important technology city and facilitate the
       emergence of new high tech companies.
       
       Over the years, Technopolis has expanded into a nationwide
       network of technology centers, with units currently located in
       the cities of Espoo, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Tampere and
       Vantaa. Technopolis is one of Europe's largest technology
       centers and the largest company in Finland providing operating
       environments for high tech companies. It is also one of the
       world's few technology centers listed on the stock exchange.
       
       Technopolis President and CEO Pertti Huuskonen underlines that
       the company's strong advance in recent years is based on a
       growth strategy, according to which the company aims to operate
       in the best high technology cities in Finland and in Russia and
       1-2 other countries by 2010. Technopolis seeks to reach this
       target through both organic growth and acquisitions.
       
       “This growth enables us to provide our customers with even
       better quality, diversity and pricing of services, a more
       comprehensive network and a good selection of operating premises
       suitable for varying purposes around Finland and abroad," says
       Huuskonen.
       
       From the outset, Technopolis's operating idea has been to
       support the growth and development of its customer companies. It
       implements this idea through its unique service concept which
       combines business and development services with state-of-the-art
       operating premises.
       
       A total of 12,000 people from 930 companies are currently
       working in Technopolis technology centers. The company's shares
       are quoted on the mid-cap list of the Nordic Exchange. The net
       sales of Technopolis increased last year to EUR 44.8 million,
       and the company's EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes,
       depreciation and amortization) amounted to EUR 22.7 million.
       Technopolis's market capitalization has grown during the
       company's eight years on the stock exchange from the initial EUR
       26 million to the current EUR 300 million.
       
       The expansion of Technopolis into a nationwide network of
       technology centers has turned Technopolis Ventures, a business
       development and incubator enterprise and part of the Technopolis
       Group, into a leading company in its field in Finland.
       Technopolis Ventures operates mainly in the same localities as
       the parent company. Last year over 200 companies participated in
       its development programs.
       
       Four persons awarded
       
       Celebrating its 25th anniversary in Oulu on Thursday, the
       company presented awards to persons who have played an
       exceptional role in the company's development. The selections
       were guided by Technopolis's values: Customer orientation,
       innovation, corporate responsibility and profitable growth.
       
       Among the awarded persons were Hannu Käkelä, Managing Director
       of Nestix Oy, the first high tech company to become a
       Technopolis customer, Paavo Vasala, an entrepreneur with Wasala
       Communications Oy who was awarded for innovative collaboration
       in communications, and Lauri Lajunen, President of the
       University of Oulu, who was awarded as a corporate
       responsibility partner. Leena Marmila, Assistant to the
       President and CEO and a long-term Technopolis employee, was
       awarded as a key person facilitating the company's growth that
       has continued from year to year.
       
       Additional information:
       
       Technopolis Plc,
       Pertti Huuskonen, President and CEO,
       tel. +358 400 680 816 or +358 8 551 3213