Aid

Aid remains an important source of foreign finance for many countries. The CDI takes account of both aid quantity through their share of national income given as ODA; and of aid quality through their scores in the Quality of Official Development Assistance – QuODA exercise.

Finland’s aid performance

• Rank: 8

Strengths

• Large share of aid to poor countries
• Small share of tied aid
• Membership in the International Aid Transparency Initiative
• Strong commitment to evaluation and learning

• Low support of global public goods facilities
• Low contributions to multilateral agencies

Trade

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries. It also penalizes costly importation processes and restrictions against purchasing services from foreigners.

Finland’s trade performance

• Rank: 12

Strengths

• As a member state of the European Union, Finland imposes low tariffs on agricultural products including wheat, dairy, some meats, textiles and apparel
• Low agricultural subsidies
• Low cost to import a shipping container 

• As a member state of the European Union Finland imposes high tariffs on rice, sugar, vegetables, fruits, nuts and beef
• Many limitations on the importation of services 

Finance

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can promote economic growth, help spread technologies, skills, and create jobs. Conversely, policies that permit secrecy can facilitate illicit activities and financial flows abroad. The CDI rewards policies that support healthy investment in developing countries and promote transparency in financial transactions at home as well as globally.

Finland’s finance performance

• Rank: 1

Strengths

• Political risk insurance agency provides wide coverage and screens potential projects for violations of human, labor and environmental rights
• Active participation and leadership in extractive industries transparency initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Kimberley Process on blood diamonds
• Scores above average in the Financial Secrecy Index for regulations in place to promote transparent financial transactions within its jurisdiction
• Provides assistance to companies looking for investment opportunities in developing countries

Migration

Allowing people to move from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. It also increases the flow of money migrants send and the transfer of skills when the migrants return. The CDI also rewards countries for enabling students from developing countries to study at their universities, and for sharing the burden of refugees and asylum seekers.

Finland’s migration performance

• Rank: 21

Strengths

• Large share of foreign students from developing countries

Weaknesses

• Small number of immigrants from developing countries entering Finland
• Small contribution to refugee burden sharing

Environment

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources while poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration. The CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries, and biodiversity, all of which affect the lives of those far beyond one country’s borders. 

Finland’s environment performance

• Rank: 4

Strengths

• No fossil fuel production
• Low greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita
• GDP growth exceeded growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the past decade
• Good compliance with mandatory reporting requirements relating to biodiversity

Security

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, military protection of global sea lanes, and participation in international security treaties. It penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

Finland’s security performance

• Rank: 5

Strengths

• Significant personnel and financial contributions to UN and internationally-sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade 

• No protection of global sea lanes
• Has not ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM)

Technology

Rich countries contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for research and development (R&D) and penalizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

Finland’s technology performance

• Rank: 6

Strengths

• High government expenditure on R&D
• Provides patent exceptions for research purposes
• Permits technologies that break encryption systems

• Low tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D
• Allows patents on plant and animal varieties
• Pushes to extend intellectual property rights in bilateral trade treaties (“TRIPS Plus” measures) that restrict the flow of innovations to developing countries
• Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain