On 14 April, the Nordic South Forum was UPM’s guest to hear some really interesting presentations on how the Finnish forest giant operates in Latin America. UPM’s total investment in Uruguay is over three billion euros. In addition to the pulp mill, it includes a deep-sea terminal in Montevideo, a new eucalyptus nursery and local infrastructure investments.
And UPM is not alone in the Global South, as the Finnish forest industry has built world-class pulp production there. So far, value-added industry and services have remained in the North. The next question, of course, is whether higher-value-added activities will follow suit or whether operations in the Global South will remain permanently raw material-based.
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement will enter into force provisionally at the beginning of May 2026. This agreement, which has been in negotiations for 25 years, is now a reality and will change our game with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. In addition, the EU has a huge new free trade agreement with India, as well as with Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Mexico.
Africa’s GDP growth is accelerating to over 4% and the continent, with over a billion inhabitants, is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
The message for Finnish companies is clear: map, prepare and move. Those who do the groundwork now will reap the rewards the fastest.
So what does the global south need? Hundreds of millions of people still live without electricity. Off-grid solar energy and mini-grids have huge potential there. At the same time, satellite internet is transforming connectivity and creating the infrastructure that enables healthcare, education and financial services in areas where fibre never reaches.
The common denominator across all emerging markets is digitalisation, and it is only just beginning.
Cloud services, cybersecurity, AI applications and SaaS solutions are areas where emerging markets are now taking their first steps. This means that there is less competition, more room for pricing, and customer loyalty is built now, not in ten years.
In particular, local language AI solutions, agricultural data, and health technology are sectors where Finnish technology expertise can stand out. There is no need to reinvent the wheel in the market, but rather applied technology that works in the local context.
The global south is no longer the market of the future, but the doors are open there already today.