Newly appointed CEO Janne Känkänen: The NESA has all the prerequisites to maintain first-class preparedness

The Finnish Government has appointed Bachelor of Political Science Janne Känkänen as CEO of the National Emergency Supply Agency (NESA) as of 1 September 2020. Känkänen has occupied the position as acting CEO since April.

“We do important work here for the preparedness of all of Finland. The NESA and the entire National Emergency Supply Organisation possess a tremendous amount of expertise, and the basics are in order. This provides us with an excellent foundation for developing the operations of the NESA,” Janne Känkänen states.

He points out that the pandemic has demonstrated the capability of Finnish society to remain functional even in difficult situations. Finland boasts good overall crisis tolerance and security of supply, and the National Emergency Supply Organisation has worked tirelessly throughout the coronavirus outbreak in the spring to ensure that essential services, such as grocery shops, remain functional and supplied in all circumstances.

“When I assumed the position of acting CEO in April, my primary goal was to restore the NESA’s ability to function and build trust. The National Emergency Supply Agency’s ability to function is now good and we have established effective practices in regard to the procurement of protective equipment in response to the pandemic, for example,” Känkänen states.

The key to strong security of supply is effective cooperation between the public, private and third sectors. One of the essential prerequisites for this work is trust, which needs to be built constantly.

“The NESA has all the prerequisites to maintain first-class preparedness in Finland while updating its operations for the post-coronavirus era. We need constant risk analysis and open dialogue with the different parties of our society. This is what I want to promote with an open and discussion-based management approach.”

Further information:
Press release by by Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment 13.8.2020