On the 31st of October 2023 – having served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over 32 years – His Excellency Mr. Juha Markkanen handed over his credentials to become Finland’s new Ambassador to Singapore, and also make his debut in this role. In connection to that, and after a few years of conducting interviews with Nordic diplomats mostly remotely (due to Covid-19), ScandAsia was able to meet with this new ambassador in person at the Finnish Embassy.
Ambassador Markkanen immediately makes one feel warmly welcomed, and his enthusiasm about being in Singapore shines through. He thinks the balmy tropical climate has initially been slightly challenging to get used to, but, despite that, this was a posting he had applied for and very much wanted to have.
“I think a decisive factor was that I have been focusing on trade promotion every since my posting as Consul General in Los Angeles back in 2013. Singapore is known as a business and financial hub and one of the Southeast Asia’s most important places for companies,” the Ambassador reflects.
“It’s nice to be here and there are lots to do in this bustling city-state. I’m also trying to keep the energy level by somewhat also exercising.”
Juha has also had the opportunity to enjoy cooler weather by returning to Finland for Christmas and New Year to see his wife – who this time will only be able to join him in Singapore later this year. He says he is also happy that his family has previously been able to be with him during previous postings abroad. Their two children are now grown-ups and busy with their education and career.
“This is an exemption where in the first year on a new foreign posting my wife could not join me from the start,” he informs.
Diplomat for over three decades
The ambassador is a lawyer by profession, who worked for three years within banking – before joining Finland’s Foreign Service. He explains how that shift happened: “In the early 1990’s the case with Finnish SME’s and export was totally different compared to for example Denmark or Sweden where they have long industrial and exporting traditions. In Finland there were not that many companies active abroad. And I thought that I would like to work in foreign countries and travel. Then I saw an advertisement about the next diplomatic course starting in 1991, so I applied and was accepted. And I’m still here after over 3 decades!” he smiles.
His diplomatic career then began in Germany, followed by Tokyo as the second posting abroad and then back to Helsinki. So, previous Asian experience mainly entails being posted in Japan. “When our children were small – 3 and 5 respectively – we left Helsinki and moved to Tokyo in year 2000, where I was number three in ranking at the Finnish embassy. After that I spent a pretty long time in the ministry in various positions, before going to Sweden in 2010, as the deputy to the ambassador, having the very nice title ‘Minister’, which one can have, as deputy, at Finland’s largest embassies. And from Sweden we went to USA, which was the first posting for me to be head of a finish mission – at the Finnish Consulate General in Los Angeles.”
In terms of his expertise the ambassador, aside trade policy, highlights two more things: the European Context (having spent four years doing coordination at the EU secretariat), and also the communications department at MFA.
More recently he has also assisted some Finnish companies relating to the Southeast Asian markets including Singapore, providing general advice.
“I did some networking from our Helsinki trade promotion unit through the Finnish ambassador here at that time.”
“I had returned back to Finland from Los Angeles, at the end of 2016, and played a heavy part within trade promotion. And before coming to Singapore I was a Director of the Finnish Foreign Ministry’s new trade promotion unit, which we established three years ago. Now I think the biggest priority for the Finnish embassy – like for the other Nordic embassies here – is the trade promotion and working a lot with companies and trying to help them in many ways,” Juha reflects.
Identifying the priorities
“I know from the outset that Singapore will be quite challenging, and where our team is comparatively limited and this is a very bustling town and city state and hub, with a lot occupying us. But I’ve, from early on, networked with our nearest and dearest colleagues – the Nordic ambassadors – and been very happy to get some useful information and advice from them. So there’s already great co-operation and we have unity between the Nordic ambassadors, including the New Nordics.”
“I’ve of course also received excellent briefings, actually from not only one but two previous Singapore ambassadors – my predecessor Antti Vänskä and also previous ambassador Paula Parviainen. Antti also hosted a pre-visit for me last year, including networking.”
With full normalisation post-Covid the briefings also made it clear to Juha how extremely challenging it had been for the diplomatic missions to conduct their operations under lockdowns. “For outreach they could only hold webinars and could not physically meet people and when you are abroad at an embassy the entire work all the time involves meeting people – which was hindered. So, fingers crossed, we certainly hope things can stay normal from now on.”
“And from my impressions this is a very active city state; so much is happening here. And Singaporeans are very target-oriented people; eager to make things better and to network. Also, like in the Nordics where rule-based free trade has been so important for us I think exactly the same applies for Singapore. We therefore have mutual understanding on both sides.”
When it comes to Finland’s focus areas and countries within Asia the ambassador believes that the government in Helsinki is more likely to look towards Beijing, Seoul or Tokyo, as well as Indonesia as in important player due to its large population.
“But there is a lot we can do, relating to very important shared Nordic clusters we have – digitalisation and IT, for example. Then, there are these green energy challenges, with possibilities, because there we possess huge knowledge and have great companies. I would also like to raise the health and welfare sector, as people are aging also here in Singapore.”
On that front some Finnish entrepreneurs has recently established the Finnish Hovi Club, an elderly care activity centre in Singapore, where Juha attended the inauguration.
“I also think that particularly Denmark and Sweden are much better than Finnish companies when it comes to food export from the Nordics. Here in Singapore many people consume Norwegian salmon, or Danish pork and chicken and I have already bought Oatly’s oat milk due to my lactose intolerance. So we are evaluating if there could be chances also for Finnish food export, even if it might be marginal,” he observes.
Upon our encounter he was otherwise about to draft his details for his period as head of the Finnish mission in Singapore.
“There is kind of a two-way-street between Helsinki and my own thoughts and we will circulate ideas and planning so that it will become a good agenda and strategy for my four years in Singapore.”
Trade promotion and facilitation
In his embassy team Juha also has a trade specialist as extra resource (replacing Riku Mäkelä), who is now Irma Ylikangas, Counsellor of Innovation and Trade Affairs, an ideal person given that she has been engaged with Singapore via trade relations during a number of years also in her previous capacity working for the city of Helsinki.
“Irma’s contract is for three years at least but I wish that she will continue. Irma’s predecessor worked here more than five years and that continuation is very important in order to build long-term relationships, and even more so in our case, since we are somewhat limited in our personnel. I’ll also try to highlight back Helsinki that enhanced recourses would be very much welcomed for us.”
There is also joint Nordic collaboration taking place through the Nordic Innovation House, which will continue with Finland’s involvement. Crucially, the Finnish national airline Finnair – as the only Nordic airline – also connects Helsinki and Singapore with direct flights. In this regard Juha has also witnessed the city of Rovaniemi and Visit Finland, along with Finnair, exhibiting at the annual travel trade show ITB Asia, and being very successful in attracting Asian tourists to visit Finland, especially during the winter season.
And when Finnair celebrated 100 years in 2023 this was also celebrated with an event in Singapore, which ambassador Juha attended, and in company with also the ambassadors from Estonia and Lithuania that have recently opened up their respective embassy in Singapore.
In facilitating Finnish companies and start-ups to enter Singapore the ambassador responds: “It particularly concerns to open doors and network for them. We have knowledge of and contact with key decision-makers that we can connect them with, to make it easier for them to start negotiating and cooperating with the counterparts here in Singapore. And for Finnish companies this assistance is very much free of charge.”
There is also ongoing collaboration with Business Finland’s Regional Head for the APAC (based in Kuala Lumpur), Mr. Pekka Laitinen: “We must ensure that we are rowing in the same direction all the time so that they know what we are doing and we know what they are up to.”
When it comes to mergers and acquisitions the embassy and Business Finland will assist in finding specialists that offer the suitable service case by case.
A different world
Geographically and for world trade Singapore is also hugely important when it comes to international security and increasingly on the agenda relating to the South China Sea.
“When I joined the Foreign Service the world looked much different at the time, compared now when it’s something different and more difficult also for smaller countries. Here, all the Nordic embassies are evaluating also the big global superpowers China and the U.S. and how they are acting in this region and we are evaluating also the stances from Singapore and the region. The security situation is a big concern going forward so it’s going to be interesting to see how Singapore acts too,” says Juha.
Being, once again, abroad, and now as Finland’s ambassador, he also reflects on how he finds it to be working abroad: “It’s a very unique job and the work is very different when you are in a ministry in Helsinki, compared to when working at an embassy abroad – kind of two worlds but a very interesting life.”
Asked about his preference in terms of other countries, a Finnish local newspaper from Juha’s home town asked the same question upon his Singapore appointment. “I answered that I can’t say because all have been very interesting and to my mind it’s very much up to you, because each place can be different and in its own way become very compelling.”
