Japan-Finland Economic Partner­ship in Forest Bio Economy Begins Between Akita Prefec­ture and North Karelia

Plans Announced for Cooper­ative Economic Relation­ship between North Karelia’s Business Unit and Akita Prefecture’s Depart­ment of Industry and Labor, Enhan­cing the Academia/RDI Collab­or­a­tions that Recently Launched Between the Two Regions. 

By Naomi Moriyama

In August 2024, His Excel­lency, Mr. Takashi Okada, the Ambas­sador of Japan to Finland and the Japanese Embassy Deleg­a­tion, joined Mr. Markus Hirvonen, North Karelia Region Mayor, and repres­ent­at­ives of the BIOSYS North Karelia Inter­na­tional Growth Ecosystem and local resid­ents to plant an Ezo-Yama Sakura cherry blossom (蝦夷山桜) seedling in the heart of Joensuu, the capital of Finland’s North Karelia and the Forest Capital of Europe. The cherry blossom served as a living symbol of an innov­ative partner­ship between the two nations.

Today, during the Vappu season, the Japanese cherry blossom trees in the heart of Finland are in full bloom, offering a vivid illus­tra­tion of the ever-growing bilat­eral relation­ship between the people of North Karelia and Japan’s Akita Prefecture. 

On March 25, 2025, Mr. Ville Kortelainen, repres­enting Business Joensuu, and Ms. Naomi Moriyama of the Regional Council of North Karelia, delivered a present­a­tion of the region’s leading forestry expertise and ecosystem to officials of the Akita Prefec­tural Office’s Commerce, Trade & Startup Division, including Mr. Norikazu Sato, Mr. Shinya Sakurai, and Ms. Michiko Yasuda.

Sakura Cherry Blossoms in Helsinki on Vappu
Repres­ent­at­ives from Business Joensuu and the Regional Council of North Karelia meet a commerce devel­op­ment team from Akita Prefec­tural Govern­ment. From left: Mr. Shinya Sakurai, Ms. Michiko Yasuda, Mr. Ville Kortelainen, Mr. Sato Norikazu, Ms. Naomi Moriyama

In turn, the team from Akita briefed the North Karelia team on AKISTA, the Akita Prefec­ture Government’s venture support project, which was initi­ated in 2024 as a response to local challenges and oppor­tun­ities, and as a mechanism to boost the local economy and attract talent to the region.

“AKISTA” Start-up Venture Support Initi­ative by Akita Prefec­tural Government
AKISTA’s Core Members
AKISTA Startups in 2024

Planned collab­or­a­tions between Akita Prefec­ture and North Karelia include straight­for­ward business-to-business engage­ments, and an innov­ative business-research project in forest bio economy among enter­prises and univer­sities from both regions. 

The dialogues will continue online and resume in-person at the 2nd Symposium on “Creative Business on Forest and Wood” in Akita on September 26 and 27, 2025 (tentative).

Photos Naomi Moriyama 写真 森山奈保美
Slide Source: Akita Prefec­ture Depart­ment of Industry and Labour

Akita’s COI-Next Souzou no Mori Project: Co-Creating Well-Being through Forest Resources.
Led by Akita’s three public univer­sities, harnessing forest resources for research-driven innov­a­tion and human capital devel­op­ment, revital­izing industry and economy, pursuing co-creating well-being
in the local community. https://en.akita-souzounomori.com/

For more inform­a­tion about AKISTA https://a‑sta.a‑iju.jp/

Forest Joensuu is the triple-helix model of Forest Bioeconomy in North Karelia, Finland.

The BIOSYS North Karelia Inter­na­tional Growth Ecosystem is run by Natural Resources Insti­tute Finland / Luonnon­varakeskus as a project lead, the Regional Council of North Karelia Pohjois-Karjalan maakun­t­aliitto, Univer­sity of Eastern Finland and MKN Itä-Suomi | Rural Women´s Advisory Centre (RWAC) of Eastern Finland. The project is funded by Renewing and Competent Finland 2021–2027, EU Regional and Struc­tural Policy Programme’s Just Trans­ition Fund – JTF, and Regional Council of North Karelia.

Project Profile in Finnish
プロジェクト概要日本語　
Project Profile in English
Follow us on LinkedIn

For more inform­a­tion, please contact Naomi Moriyama [email protected]