At our first luncheon meeting in after the summer break, held on Tuesday 28 August, we will have a distinguished guest speaker, the Foreign Minister of Finland, Mr. Ilkka Kanerva. Minister Kanerva is in Japan for the Athletics World Championships held in Osaka (Aug 25 - Sep 2) as a Council Member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Minister Kanerva will speak about current challenges facing the Finnish society. Note that we start the luncheon this time at 13:00.

Details:

Date & Time:	Tuesday 28 August, 13.00-15.00 (NOTE TIME)
Venue:	Hotel Okura, South Wing 12F, Kensington Terrace MAP
Cost:	7,000 yen for members, non-members 8,000 yen
Registration:	by Friday 24 August

Profile of Minister Kanerva (main) Date and place of birth: 28 January 1948, Lokalahti Place of residence: Turku Master of Social Sciences, Member of Parliament (since 1975 - National Coalition Party) Minister for Foreign Affairs, 19 April 2007 to present Minister of Labour, from 26 April 1991 to 13 April 1995 Minister at the Ministry of Finance, from 26 April 1991 to 13 April 1995 Minister of Transport and Communications, from 28 August 1990 to 26 April 1991 Minister at the Ministry of Finance, from 3 February 1989 to 26 April 1991 Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, from 30 April 1987 to 28 August 1990 Finnish Olympic Committee, Vice Chair, 1993 to present International Association of Athletics Federations, Council Member 2003 to present

If you would like attend, please click link at right.

 REGISTRATION 

As this is the EBC's hallmark publication, we are requesting EBC members and friends to sponsor the publication as "Blue-Star Sponsors," "Special Sponsors" or "Sponsors" in return for visible acknowledgment in the 2 volumes. This authentication via sponsorship from the members is essential in establishing the credibility of the report with the Japanese Government.

Similar to last year, the EBC is also taking orders for the white papers at 5,000 yen for one set (1 English and 1 Japanese version per set). Please note that the names of companies placing advance orders will also be listed as "Supporters" in the report as this visible support is important in authenticating and establishing credibility of the report as mentioned above. The white paper is produced on a cost-recovery basis and both sponsorship and advance orders are essential to cover professional translation, printing, postage, labour and other related activities.

WHITE PAPER SPONSORSHIP

Blue-Star Sponsorship: 150,000 yen or more if you wish (Company logo on half a page)

Special Sponsorship: 100,000 yen (Company name on a 10-name page)

Sponsorship: 50,000 yen (Company name on a 20-name page)

PURCHASE OF WHITE PAPERS

5,000 yen per set: 1 English copy and 1 Japanese copy (including postage)

If you would like to support the white paper as sponsor and/or would like to order copies please click links below for order forms.

 SPONSORSHIP FORM 
 WHITE PAPER ORDER FORM 

News from Finland

Finnair Q2 pretax up ten-fold yr/yr at EUR 34 mln

Finnish flag carrier Finnair on Thursday reported a second-quarter pretax profit of 34.4 million euros, up from 3.3 million in the year-ago period.

Sales rose by about nine per cent year-on-year to about 538 million euros.

"The figures published today show that we are heading in the right direction. Unit costs have clearly decreased due to efficiency measures, and profitability has in many respects improved," said in a statement Jukka Hienonen, the chief executive of Finnair.

Mr Hienonen added that rapid growth of Finnair's Asian traffic had put the ground handling capacity of its hub, Helsinki-Vantaa airport, to the test.

"A terminal extension serving Asian traffic will alleviate the situation when it opens in early 2009."

 MORE BIZNEWS 

Grins of the week

Got any more dogs?

A young man from the city went to visit his farmer uncle. For the first few days, the uncle showed him the usual things - chickens, cows, crops, etc. After three days, however, it was obvious that the nephew was getting bored, and the uncle was running out of things to amuse him with.

Finally, the uncle had an idea. "Why don't you grab a gun, take the dogs, and go shooting?" This seemed to cheer the nephew up, and with enthusiasm, off he went, dogs in trail.

After a few hours, the nephew returned.

"How did you enjoy that?" asked the uncle.

"It was great!" exclaimed the nephew. "Got any more dogs?"