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FinNode Director Joins Prime Minister Delegation to Pitch Finland as Leading Country for Wireless/Telecommunications Technology
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Delegation Meet with Cisco, Google; Governor Schwarzenegger and Bill Gates are Next Stops

Santa Clara, Calif. – January 17, 2008 – FinNode director Pekka Pärnänen joined Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in a whirlwind tour of the West Coast to pitch Finnish wireless and telecommunications technology. The delegation met with Cisco CEO John Chambers and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin; the Prime Minister also met with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Sacramento.

“Just a few months ago, the World Economic Forum (WEF) reported that Finland has surpassed the United States as measured by its political, cultural and industrial readiness to leverage new technologies. Finnish entrepreneurs and the technologies they've invented are already contributing significantly to Silicon Valley and we still have a lot more to offer — especially in wireless and telecommunications,” said Pekka Pärnänen, Director of FinNode. “It is an honor to be part of the Prime Minister's delegation to bring our message to influential Silicon Valley companies and entrepreneurs.”

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Vanhanen met with Vice President Dick Cheney to discuss energy and climate issues, innovation policy and key international and bilateral issues. While in Washington, the Prime Minister also met with the US Secretary of Energy and the chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and he addressed an audience at the National Press Club in Washington DC with a speech that urged the Bush Administration to contribute to curbing global CO2 emissions. The proceedings of the speech can be found here.

Today, Prime Minister Vanhanen continues to Seattle where he will meet with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and visit Boeing and the University of Washington. Prime Minister Vanhanen is also to deliver a speech marketing Finland as a leading country for innovation.

About FinNode
Comprised of members of the business and technology community, FinNode is a network designed to help Silicon Valley companies connect with partners in Finland and the U.S. With domain expertise in more than 20 different industries, FinNode provides resources for business development, internationalization, R&D, outsourcing, intellectual property licensing, venture funding and university partnerships. The FinNode community offers executive-level contacts and expertise relevant to Fortune 1000 companies, start-ups and universities. For more information, visit FinNode at www.finnode.com / email to competition@finnode.com / or call +408-971-7303.

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