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Opportunities for sustainable business

Finnish companies and their partners can benefit from a wide range of business opportunities financed by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), while enhancing sustainable business.

IFIs provide a large and growing, yet underutilized, global market for Finnish companies and their partners, representing a less risky financing source especially in emerging and developing markets.

IFIs refer mainly to multilateral development banks – such as the World Bank and the regional development banks – promoting sustainable social and economic development. EU development financing is also considered in this framework.

About The IFI Financed Market

IFIs account for some 150 billion USD of annual financial flows towards developing markets alone. Most IFIs work mainly in developing countries and some provide financing also for developed economies especially in Europe. IFI financed business opportunities cover a wide range of industries including energy, transport, mining, water supply and sanitation, urban and rural development, health and education.

Read more from our IFI Snapshot Handbook

  • The most relevant IFI financed business opportunities, industries and sectors
  • Strategically interesting IFI financed regions or countries
  • The most relevant IFIs and their business opportunities

IFI Snapshot Handbook

Main Business

Opportunities

Public Procurement Opportunities

Finnish companies and their partners can compete for IFI financed public procurement opportunities, particularly when Finland is a member country of the IFI in question. IFIs finance governments and other public entities in their countries of operations and part of this financing generates public procurement opportunities. These range from large-scale infrastructure works and goods to solutions and services.

Investment Financing Opportunities

Finnish companies and their partners can seek benefit from IFI investment financing for bankable private sector projects in IFI countries of operations, either as investors or as suppliers. IFIs can also mobilize significant third-party resources for the bankable investment projects. While most investment opportunities directly financed by IFIs tend to focus on large-scale investment opportunities, a few venture funding and networking initiatives focusing on smaller companies have also emerged recently.

Overview of IFIs

Materials

Snapshot of International Financial Institutions – Opportunities for Sustainable Business 

This 2021 handbook provides a structured information package on the IFI financed market and related business opportunities.

Guide to Procurements by Development Financiers: Handbook for Companies towards 150 billion EUR Markets (In Finnish)

This 2019 guide by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland provides a wealth of information on the procurements by the international development financiers, including IFIs.

Webinar material: International Financial Institutions – Opportunities for Sustainable Business

These 2021 webinar presentation materials provide a brief overview of the IFI financed market, our IFI service model in piloting as well as of selected tools and initiatives towards the IFI financed opportunities.

Our services

Business Finland, together with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, helps Finnish companies to better access sustainable IFI financed business opportunities. We help Finnish companies to explore and access IFI financed procurement and investment opportunities by:

  • Providing insights and advice on IFIs, IFI financed business opportunities and related requirements.
  • Building dialogue and proving networking opportunities with IFIs and other stakeholders in the IFI financed markets.
  • Promoting Finnish offering towards IFIs and other stakeholders as appropriate.

Geographic Focus

Our work on IFI financed procurement and investment opportunities focuses on emerging and developing countries, without excluding others. The current pilot countries for our IFI related services are:

  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Turkey

For Whom

Our services are meant for Business Finland customers as well as for their partners such as research organizations.

How do I become a customer?

Contact us

IFIs in General

Grace Wang

+86 137 1606 9779
IFIs in India

Jukka Holappa

+91 729 0006 574
IFIs in Indonesia

Nina Jacoby

+62 812 1813 4490
IFIs in Turkey

Nilufer Alapinar

+90 212 284 95 91

Business Finland Services for

Funding

Market Explorer

With Market Explorer funding, you get information about a new international market for your company.
Funding

Group Explorer

The Group Explorer funding service is intended for business groups to assess joint business opportunities in export markets.
Funding

Exhibition Explorer

Trade fair funding for SMEs and MIDCAPs. We offer Trade Fair grants to trade fair projects happening outside Finland.
Services

Startup companies

Business Finland is an accelerator of growth and a neutral partner for startup companies. We offer funding, advice, as well as information and contacts in the target market for the Finnish companies with the most growth potential.