Notable Cooperation Agreement expands incubator collaboration with St. Petersburg
07.02.2010 10:33
On the 15th of December 2009 the Small Business Center’s Start-up Center and St. Petersburg’s first business incubator signed an important Cooperation Agreement, which aims to assist both parties in internationally branching out their businesses. Finnish incubator companies now have increased opportunities to collaborate with the Business Center Kristall in St. Petersburg, while the Small Business Center’s incubator offers its services to start-up companies from St. Petersburg.
Viktoria Boicova – Director of the Russian incubator – considers the Cooperation Agreement excellent for companies that are interested in expanding their business internationally, but do not wish to immediately enter global markets. Director of the Small Business Center Pentti Mustalampi believes that the Cooperation Agreement will open possibilities for trade between Finland and Russia that were previously unavailable.
Jyrki Terva, from the St Petersburg consulate, hopes that Finnish people could overcome their old suspicions regarding business in St Petersburg and embrace the tremendous potential of the city. According to him, the Cooperation Agreement enables building of synergies that would have been impossible to create merely between Finnish parties. He also believes that building relationships with Russian partners and learning from them may prove to be crucial for succeeding in the Russian market.
The signing ceremony attracted the attention of hundreds of onlookers as well as the media. Also present were a group of very prominent figures in Russian politics, such as St. Petersburg’s Vice Governor Oseejevsky Mihail, Vice President of the Industrial Development and Finance –committee Kotov Anatoli, President of the St. Petersburg Commercial Chamber Vladimir Katenev, Director of SME Foundation Sergei Balanev and Ljubov Krasikova and Elena Tseretely who both have a significant role in the developing of small and mid-size business in St. Petersburg.
The Cooperation Agreement is a part of the Baltic Sea Integration –project, which aims to strengthen the international business know-how of incubators, centers of excellence (e.g. technology centers), a variety of companies, and organizations that support corporate activity. The geographical focus is on St. Petersburg, Latvia and Lithuania, while funding is received from the European Union as well as from national organizations.
