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Abstract:
Finland's national nanotech initiative FinNano is rapidly advancing on the international scene. Its record-sized delegation was highly visible at nano tech 2008, the world's largest nanotechnology exhibition in Tokyo.

Finland and Japan in Strategic Nanotech Cooperation

Tokyo, Japan | Posted on February 14th, 2008

Finland's national nanotech initiative FinNano is rapidly advancing on the international scene. Its record-sized delegation was highly visible at nano tech 2008, the world's largest nanotechnology exhibition in Tokyo.

Several cooperation agreements were established during the event. One of the most important was the extension of cooperation between NOF Corporation, a consortium of Finnish industrial companies, and the University of Oulu. The cooperation is partly funded by Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.

"Cooperation with Tekes has been very fruitful. The Finnish innovation environment and its funding instruments provide an excellent base for Japanese enterprises to partner with the Finnish technology sector, and to develop innovative applications of Japanese materials," says Mr. Yoshihiko Tsujimoto, of Marubeni Chemix Corporation.

"New composite materials developed by a joint program with TEKES and NOF Corporation could help to decrease signal loss in transmissions and enable high-speed telecommunication. This great progress will create a new field of telecommunications," adds Mr. Toyohisa Kobayashi of NOF Corporation

"This co-operation will enable world-leading research and further breakthroughs in wireless telecommunications components for mobile devices," says Professor Heli Jantunen from the University of Oulu. "Our team is excited to see their research move to real products."

"Whilst having world-leading electronics companies and cutting edge university research, Finland has few companies with NOF's depth of materials expertise. This cooperation will soon enable Finnish companies to launch some truly innovative solutions," says Markku Lämsä, Programme Manager, Tekes.

In Finland, industrial applications for nanotechnology and functional materials are important focus areas of the country's national innovation policy. Tekes has two large technology programmes in this field, which allocate a total of 300MEUR of public and private funding, and which run until 2013. The programmes are coordinated for Tekes by Spinverse, an emerging technology commercialisation company.

For Further information:

Marubeni Chemix Corporation
Marubeni Chemix is one of the core business units of Marubeni Corporation's Chemical Division, which specifically focuses on the creation of new business in such fields as functional chemicals and life science. Regarding electronic material, we have a strong commitment to a wide range of wireless application development.
For further detail, please visit our website www.marubenichemix.co.jp .

NOF -- From the biosphere to outer space.
NOF's Oleo & Speciality Chemicals Business has been a pioneering leader in Japan since NOF established its oils and fats operations in 1910. In addition to supplying a range of products in the oleochemical field and the petrochemical field, NOF supplies these products to rapidly growing areas driven by technological innovation in the environmental, energy, IT, electronics and consumer goods fields.

Tekes
Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation is the main government financing and expert organisation for applied research and corporate R&D in Finland. Tekes especially promotes innovative, risk-intensive projects. www.tekes.fi/eng
Tekes FinNano programme: www.tekes.fi/finnano

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About Spinverse
Spinverse specialises in the commercialisation of emerging technologies. By combining scientific, industrial and investment expertise, Spinverse provides information about emerging technologies and evaluates promising applications and their market potential. Spinverse organises international conferences and events, and coordinates national programmes in nanotechnology, functional materials and fuel cells for Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.

Further information:

Mr. Yoshihiko Tsujimoto, Marubeni Chemix Corporation,
tel. +81-3-3282-2491,

Mr. Toyohisa Kobayashi, NOF Corporation,
tel. +81-3-5795-3644,

Professor Heli Jantunen, University of Oulu,
tel. +358 40 512 0861,

Dr Markku Lämsä, Tekes,
tel. +358 10 60 55793,

Managing Director Pekka Koponen, Spinverse,
tel. +358 40 545 0008,