On November 14, Anne Berner, Finland's minister of Transport and Communications; government officials; and representatives of 10 Finnish maritime companies, 23 guests in total visited the NYK head office and met with NYK representative director and executive vice-president corporate officer Naoya Tazawa and senior managing corporate officer Yasuo Tanaka.
Earlier in the year on March 10, 2016, the leaders of Japan and Finland issued a joint statement on a strategic partnership between Japan and Finland as gateways in Asia and Europe. Minister Berner was visiting Japan to promote cooperation among companies of both countries in a wide range of areas. She was seeking cooperation particularly in the maritime industry for the technical development of automated vessel operation systems and the Arctic Ocean. NYK was the only company in the maritime industry to be visited.
During the meeting, Minister Berner spoke about the exceptional technology being developed by Finnish maritime companies. NYK and MTI, and NYK Group company, introduced their developments and how the NYK Group utilizes IoT and Big Data for vessels, etc. and an active exchange of opinions followed.
To encourage the development and use of creative solutions and thus create new value, the NYK Group will continue to pursue competitive advantages by building good relationships with the governments of various nations, and companies in the maritime industry.