This afternoon, Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie received in his office Finnish entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka, creator of Angry Birds and founder of Rovio and Slush.
Faurie and Vesterbacka agreed on the need to train and connect Argentine entrepreneurs in order to export high value-added, knowledge-intensive services and, in that regard, they addressed the experience developed in Finland for the so-called "entrepreneurship ecosystem".
The Argentine Foreign Minister and the Finnish entrepreneur discussed the possibilities offered by Argentina's human resources and technological development capabilities, as well as the need to strengthen education, which -in the light of the new forms of employment- poses a challenge not only for the region but for the world as a whole.
Later, Vesterbacka held a seminar for entrepreneurs in the Manuel Belgrano Auditorium of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, organized by the Undersecretariat for Investment Development and Trade Promotion, which had many attendees and provided a question and answer session for them.
As regards the experience in his country and opportunities in Argentina, Vesterbacka stated: "In Finland we wanted to do something different: we gathered all those who wanted to be entrepreneurs." He then added: "Our government helped us remove the obstacles in our way. I see the same trend in Argentina. There is ample opportunity here for everyone to launch their own start-ups."
Earlier, the Finnish entrepreneur headed a round table with officials from several Ministries, such as the Undersecretary for Investment Development and Trade Promotion of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Marcelo Lucco; the Undersecretary for Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Production, Esteban Campero; and the Undersecretary for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation Policies (MINCyT), Jorge Mariano Aguado. The Argentine entrepreneur and inventor Gino Tubaro was also present.
"Entrepreneurship was what allowed Finland to grow after 10 difficult years and what allowed it to create a favourable environment to receive high volumes of venture capital from 2012 to 2016, both from local and international investors. The model that could change the world is based on three pillars: education, entrepreneurship and entertainment," he explained.
The activity this afternoon also served as a forum to promote Slush, an event dedicated to start-ups, in which Argentina's participation is coordinated by the Foreign Ministry.
Press release No. 266/17
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