Wille Eerola is a Finnish marketing communications professional who was appointed the honorary consul general of Pakistan to Finland by the president.

He is also the chairman of the Finland Pakistan BusinessCouncil, through which he has built bridges between Pakistani, Finnish and Nordic companies for years. Dawn caught up with him in Islamabad and talked to him about his experience working in Pakistan.Q: What got you interested in working with and in Pakistan? A: When a foreigner like me comes to Pakistan for the first time, there is always that slight element of prejudice, even fear, included. That`s obviously all because of the negative image of Pakistan abroad, something I saw as an unfinished or even non-started task.

I had the same perception prior to my first trip, but that changed in hours after I arrived in Karachi. I was so thrilled and emotionally touched by the outstanding level of hospitality, which is a fundamental part of the nation and society. When I experienced that huge gap between the picture of Pakistan and my own experience, I decided to start my oneman mission to change the image of Pakistan, especially among business people.

Since then I have linked together big corporations and small and medium enterprises (SME) from Finland and other Nordic countries with Pakistani companies, basically everything from hosting a big corporation to meeting the prime minister to one-on-one meetings with companies and business summits in Pakistan and Finland.

Q: Have you seen any impact of your work? A: I think so. When I started my adventure with Pakistan over a decade ago there was not so much happening between Finland and Pakistan in terms of business. Obviously big Finnish corporations like Nokia have been around, but nowadays we have tens of companies from both sides at least talking and communicating each other.

Knowing each other is always the starting point for any productive business relation and even in this digital world knowing people in person is always required. And that is exactly why I have been pushing both Pakistani and Finnish companies to communicate more.

There is certainly a growing interest as we speak: currently there is almost a boom linked to the Finnish education sector and Pakistan, as well as growing interest seen recently in healthcare, agriculture and food exports.Q: What are some of the similarities and differences between Pakistan and Finland? A: Pakistani society is pretty far away from Finland when it comes to the role of families, also in business. I often smile when my Pakistani friends mention their second or third cousins in talks for a business deal or introducing a Finnish company to someone who might be able to help them in Pakistan. Unfortunately such a strong structure of family is not very common in Finland or any Nordic country anymore.

Another family related issue I always keep mentioning to Finnish companies is something we also used to have decades ago: one family can own various businesses, which don`t have anything to do with each other so when you get a business card from someone, you never know what else is managed or controlled by the same family and that`s why you need to communicate and talk with your business partner.

Pakistanis talk a lot and Finns are pretty famous for being a nation with few words although that is a stereotype, as I am a Finn who does talk. Staying quiet can also be agreat compliment from a Finn. In business one important issue is the definition of time and Finns are very punctual, especially if you are waiting for an answer, offer or something else from a company you are starting to work with.

Q: What advice would you give entrepreneurs wanting to engage with Scandinavia or Europe? A: The Nordic market is pretty unknown among most Pakistani companies and my first advice is to research. Pakistani companies should research business sectors, competitors, demand and so on to identify opportunities.

Finland is a market with only 5.4 million people obviously very small by Pakistani standards -the Nordic market of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland is 26 million, the new Nordic-8 withEstonia, Latvia and Lithuania is another few million, but GDPwise we are talking about $1.5 trillion, which makes the Nordic market the 5th largest economy in Europe. Vice versa, Pakistan has 200 million people, 5-6pc GDP growth so companies in Finland or any other Nordic country should enter such a developing market.

By Syeda Shehrbano Kazim