Aspiring young professionals from South East Asian commerce and industry can boost their career prospects by applying for the 1998 Junior Executive Scholarship Programme.  Established in 1995 by Finland’s President, Martti Ahtisaari, the Programme enables scholarship holders from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia to spend up to six months in a Finnish host company learning about new technology through study and work experience. With next year’s programme due to begin in April 1998, all applications should be received no later than 17 October 1997.

In a recent statement, President Ahtisaari stressed JESP’s important role in establishing networks and encouraging continuous co-operation between companies in Finland and South-East Asia.
Run by the Helsinki-based Centre for International Mobility (CIMO), JESP is jointly funded and hosted by ten of Finland’s leading industrial companies and the Finnish government.
After a two-week introductory training course on Finnish business and culture, scholarship holders work for a host company in a role specifically tailored to their experience. This helps them obtain a wider perspective of their industry by showing how things are done in Finland, providing them with new knowledge to be put into practice once they return home. The programme also includes a two-week training module on management skills.

Added benefits
One person who attended the 1996 programme is Mr. Shahril Anwar Mohd Yunos. An employee of Sapura Digital in Malaysia, Shahril spent his time on the programme working for Nokia Telecommunications, one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies.
”Working for Nokia Telecommunications gave me an excellent opportunity to gain new knowledge and experience,” says Shahril. ”By going to Finland, I feel that I have become better equipped for my job at Sapura Digital, with new ideas and methods which I am now able to utilize in my work.”
Whilst working at the host company, scholarship holders are given the chance to see as much of the company’s operations as possible in order to provide them with a broad overview of Finland and its technology.
”We try to show our scholarship holders as much as we can,” says Raija Muinonen, the company’s JESP co-ordinator. ”As well as letting our scholars work in a number of different company departments, we also arrange visits to our other sites in Finland and provide introductory meetings with new contacts who may be of use to them in the future.”
For scholarship holders, the exposure to a totally different business culture forms a valuable learning experience, often bringing long-term career benefits. Anita Navaratnam from Malaysia, one of two women who attended last year’s JESP programme, has since obtained a job with Nokia Cables in Finland, working in the company’s South East Asian section of the marketing department.
In Anita’s opinion, a key factor in the decision to employ her was because of her time on the programme. ”I feel that the experience I gained from JESP gave me a very definite advantage when applying to Nokia Cables,” says Anita. ”My experience of Finnish business, coupled with my familiarity with South East Asia, will help me in building a close relationship to the the South East Asian region.”

Applications now invited
Applicants should have an academic degree, some years of work experience in the field they are applying for and a good level of English. Application forms can be obtained from the Embassy of Finland in Malaysia, Mr Timo Heino, tel. 03-457 7746 or 03-457 7332, fax 03-457 7793, and should be submitted by 17 October 1997.
Scholarships will be granted in the fields of electronics, forestry, sawmill, pulp and paper industries, energy management and production, ship-building, mining, metal and engineering industries and public administration.
One of the world’s fastest developing areas, South-East Asia represents an increasingly important market for Finnish trade. Since 1990, Finnish trade with the region have steadily increased and accounted for 15% of Finland’s export total by the end of 1996. As for Malaysia there has been a four-fold increase in exports since 1990.
By running the Junior Executive Scholarship Programme, CIMO hopes to promote cross-cultural communication between Finland and South-East Asia, thus building a long-term commitment to a close working relationship between the two countries. Since the JESP was set up, around 40 scholarship holders have visited Finland.


For further information contact:
Tiina Oinonen, Project coordinator
Centre for International Mobility, CIMO
Junior Executive Scholarship Programme (JESP)
P O Box 343
FIN-00531 HELSINKI, Finland
Tel +358 9 7747 7059
Fax +358 9 7747 7064
GSM 050-599 4851
E-mail: tiina.oinonen@cimo.fi.
Home: http://www.cimo.fi

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