On the last day of summer 2016, the British & Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce in Finland and the Embassy of India in Finland welcomed over 150 members, patrons and friends. Starting with our "all things digital" seminar with over 60 participants - a sell out - we heard from our host, H.E. Shri. Ashok Kumar Sharma, Ambassador of India, and new Chairman of B3CF's Advisory Board, about all the recent developments for business with the power house of India. Mr. Boo Narashima, the Chair of our new Ostrobothnian chapter introduced himself and his connections with India and his region. Keynote speakers were Prof. Dr. Yevegeni Kucheryavy from Tampere University of Technology, and chamber member, and Tuomas Saarinen from Danske Bank International.
We were also joined by Commonwealth Ambassadors H.E. Mrs. Blanche Olbery (Malaysia, celebrating it's national day!), H.E. Mrs. Carmen Smidt (South Africa), Mrs. Ingrid Tjizo (Namibia), Senior Trade Commissioner Francis Uy (Canada) and a special delegation from Uganda with Members of the Ugandan Parliament and business communities. Advisory Board member Harri Jaskari MP also joined us from the Eduskunta.
The afternoon was full of activities, including the new Jaguar F-Pace presentation from our Business Partner, Inchcape Motors Finland (Jaguar Land Rover), Darts Competition, Prize Raffle, Indian Music and Food, and beautiful flowers and decoration from Ihana Kukkanen Kauniainen. Guests had the opportunity to test out the new cars to suit them, with the Prize of a F-Pace weekend experience won by John Klang!
Our Ugandan delegation, in particular, enjoyed great networking opportunities with local businesses and Commonwealth colleagues as part of their extended visit to Finland and other Nordic countries. After all, the Commonwealth Theme this year is "An Inclusive Commonwealth", and we certainly proved that in Finland!
We were blessed with fine weather for the first time in two weeks of rain! So everyone was pleased to get out of the office and make the most of the afternoon and evening on the island of Kulosaari / Brändö! Click any picture to see the whole gallery for the event.
