How did Finland become home to Nokia?
On the face of it seems like an unlikely picture - a frigid, Nordic country as large as Thailand or Rajasthan state, with a population less than a third of Delhi's, it has managed to build an amazing manufacturing industry, centered on sophisticated equipment.
In a recent article, Ricardo Hausman, points out that the Finns started out quite logically by building on their biggest strength - its forests. So it was hardly surprising that a country with the highest forest-cover (75%) in Europe, would have a stong lumbering industry.
Yet, it went much, much beyond timber-based industries. It take good tools to bring down the huge trees, so they make excellent cutting machines; It is easier to transport paper than wood, so they have an advanced paper manufacturing industry.
A snowbound country with a population density of just 16/sqkm can be tough, so they built a good transportation, and a wireless communication industry.
How many other countries have transformed their weaknesses into strengths?
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REFERENCES:
* Ricardo Hausmann - http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ricardo-hausmann-advises-poor-countries-not-to-focus-solely-on-adding-value-to-natural-resource-exports
* Trade in Finland - Imports & Exports - http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/fin/
* Examining Benefication - http://ricardohausmann.com/?p=878
* Forest Cover in Finland - the highest in Europe -- http://www.forest.fi/smyforest/foresteng.nsf/allbyid/BE3C5576C911F822C2256F3100418AFD?Opendocument
