State Secretary Stašek, together with the Czech Ambassador to Finland Ivan Jukl, launched the Finnish-Czech Forum, attended by major Czech and Finnish construction companies. The two largest Finnish construction companies, SRV and YIT, have offered Czech construction and technology companies the opportunity to succeed in the Finnish construction sector. On the Czech side, representatives of Metrostav Group, VKM Solutions,PS Brno and other companies were present. In the second part of the event there was room for specific B2B negotiations. The event was part of the Economic Diplomacy Project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic organized by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Helsinki.

Finland is experiencing a construction boom, and in addition to "usual" housing/urban construction, it is planning to launch a number of major construction projects (e.g. ice-hockey hall in Tampere, social and sport complex Hippos 2020 in Jyväskylä or hospital in Oulu). As confirmed in consultation with representatives of large Finnish construction groups, the local market will lack construction capacity as a result of massive construction, while the Finnish construction industry is also facing stagnation in productivity..  Not only because of this, but also with regard to the excellent reference of Czech builders and subcontractors (e.g. obtained during cooperation on construction of Sazka Arena) there is an interest and opportunity to initiate and support further mutual cooperation in this field.

During the meeting of the Secretary of State with Finnish partner Markka Keinänen, who is responsible for economic relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, the partners exchanged experience on the functioning of economic diplomacy systems. During the meeting, the Finnish party presented project Business Finland, which was established last year and Team Finland, which coordinates the Finnish foreign representative network through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. State Secretary Stašek introduced to his Finnish partner the Czech system of economic diplomacy based on a sectoral approach and innovative tools such as Economic Diplomacy Projects and Map of Global Sectoral Opportunities. The two sides also touched on the need to share the main upcoming issues of the forthcoming EU Council Presidency, including free trade issues and further market liberalization.