Finland is launching an ambitious campaign to attract international top talent in deep technology sectors from India, Brazil, the United States, and European countries. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment announced that Work in Finland, the national body for international recruitment, will begin the new talent attraction campaign this month. The initiative aims to help Finnish companies, research institutions, and universities find and recruit international experts and researchers, particularly in technology fields.

The campaign will utilize digital marketing, international media, events, and networks to highlight Finnish employers and job opportunities. According to Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen, the effort will make Finland's innovation sector better known worldwide and encourage international experts to seize available opportunities. The campaign will also support the Research Council of Finland's call for applications to promote foreign researcher recruitment in Finnish universities.

Meanwhile, foreign investments in Finland showed improvement last year, rising by 2.4 billion euros to reach 83.5 billion euros total, according to Invest in Finland. However, the country still lags significantly behind neighboring Sweden, where foreign investments account for 74% of GDP compared to Finland's 30%. Sweden remains the largest source of foreign direct investment in Finland, responsible for about a quarter of all FDIs, followed by the UK, US, Denmark, and Norway.

Kaija Laitinen, senior market intelligence advisor at Invest in Finland, noted that while many large projects have been announced—including data centers and green transition initiatives—they are not yet reflected in official figures due to the lengthy investment process. She emphasized the importance of maintaining a stable, predictable operating environment across government terms to ensure investment projects are realized. The number of foreign companies investing in Finland increased by 62 in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period in 2024, with focus areas including business services, health and care services, retail, digitalization, and cleantech.

Finnair is gradually restoring its Airbus A321 fleet to service after an uncertified cleaning procedure forced the grounding of eight aircraft. The airline confirmed that seat covers were washed with water, a method not properly certified to ensure fire protection standards were maintained. This safety concern prompted the removal of the affected aircraft from service, leading to operational disruptions across Finnair's European network.

The situation began improving over the weekend as Finnair started installing new seat covers on the grounded aircraft. The first A321 returned to service on Sunday, operating a flight from Helsinki to Rhodes. However, seven aircraft remain out of service with no confirmed timeline for their full return. The A321s typically seat approximately 200 passengers and are crucial for Finnair's European route operations.

The grounding has resulted in significant passenger disruptions, with Finnair implementing extensive rebooking procedures. On Sunday alone, approximately 460 passengers were moved to different flights due to aircraft downgrades. The airline has prioritized high-frequency routes such as Helsinki-Stockholm and Helsinki-London, ensuring alternative options are available. In some cases, Finnair has used smaller replacement aircraft and offered incentives for volunteers to switch flights.

To manage the capacity shortfall, Finnair has wet-leased two aircraft with crews from Danish carrier DAT since Wednesday. While flight cancellations have decreased to single digits in recent days, with some days passing without any cancellations, the airline acknowledges that irregularities may continue through the coming week. Finnair is providing accommodation and compensation to affected passengers in accordance with EU air passenger rights regulations as it works to fully resolve the operational challenges.