Summary

The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) has published a report entitled “Enhancing small state preparedness: Risks of foreign ownership, supply disruptions and technological dependencies”. The report looks at how the changing global environment and the geoeconomic practices of great powers affect small open economies. It specifically looks at how states like Finland and Sweden can shield their critically important enterprises from strategic foreign acquisitions, mitigate potential security risks in foreign ownership and reduce dependencies that may be exploited by major powers through sanctions and political retaliation. The research project has made use of online panels in Finland, where experts from different sectors of society have discussed the challenges posed by foreign ownership in critical sectors.

Chapter 5 of the report (pages 145 to 167), “Enhancing Sweden’s National Preparedness up to 2030” describes the outcome of an experts’ workshop held in Stockholm in October 2022. The workshop featured experts from different sectors and organizations in Sweden and used two Chinese ownership scenarios as a basis for discussion – one regarding wind power parks and one regarding a mobile gaming company.  The Swedish workshop focused on these two threat scenarios and the concerns that China may have the ability and the desire to weaponize these critical dependencies and create security risks through its FDI practice. Experts contributed a wide range of viewpoints and ideas about the nature of the risks and how to mitigate them.

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