INVEST IN KOKKOLA
Our strategic top industries are chemical, cleantech, bioeconomy, boats, and services. At the same, time we strengthen our R&D activities that support business, expand our networks into clusters, and focus on raising the degree of processing and product creation.
Companies in the Kokkola region have hundreds of years of international business tradition and know-how. Growing population, diversified economic structure, and heavy investment by trade and industry have strengthened the vitality of Kokkola, even through the 2010s.

CHEMISTRY

BOAT INDUSTRY

BIOECONOMY

TRADE & SERVICES
"Thanks to training paths, Kokkola can educate workforce for companies in chemical engineering from skilled workers to doctoral level specialists".
Ulla Lassi
University of Oulu/Kokkola campus
Professor/Head of Research Unit

"Kokkola offered us top quality conditions for wellness technology R&D cooperation. Today we export pneumatic fitness equipment into more than 50 countries".
Lena Karjaluoto
HUR
CEO

"The boat building traditions in Kokkola are hundreds of years old. The subcontractor network has an important role for us boat builders in delivering high quality products; from woodwork to windows, doors, and propellers".
Olli Lindkvist
Linex-Boat Oy
CEO, President

“Kokkola has developed into an important center for convenience and special goods purchases. Because of the versatile and ever developing services, business will grow strongly in Kokkola”.
Janne Ylinen
Halpa-Halli Oy, Kokkola
CEO

“Kokkola has a very special atmosphere that inspires us. The entrepreneur friendly attitude of Kokkola directly decided the location of our air gas production plant”.
Clas Palmberg
Oy Woikoski Ab
President & owner

Investment opportunities
Port Tower and KIP areas
KIP = Kokkola Industrial Park
The Port Tower extension
The office building, Port Tower, serving as a gateway to the industrial park, offers versatile services to companies and customers attending meetings. Five floors have been reserved for corporate office use. No more space is available. Due to great demand, a new four-floor annex is being built next to the Port Tower.
The extension will be comprised of 29,000 square ft in total. A 2,200 square ft garage and parking lot are also being built in the area.
The 10 acres between the Port Tower and the industrial park will host a fuel distribution center and a service station for heavy goods vehicles.
Watch presentation video
Available sites in the large-scale industry area
Kokkola has Northern Europe’s most remarkable inorganic chemical cluster, the Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP). The area houses 15 industrial operators and over 60 service companies, the most remarkable being Woikoski, Boliden Kokkola, Freeport Cobalt and the Port of Kokkola. The companies in the industrial park provide direct employment for 2,250 people and the average annual exports exceeds 1.5 billion euros (2017).
In the KIP area there are currently 170 acres of “Plug In” ready lots.
Watch presentation video
The Kosila area
The planning of the development of the Kosila area is a part of the KlaRa project cluster, which aims to improve the rail traffic and the center of the town. Our goal is to condense and revitalize the center by bringing in more residents, commercial players and new types of operational hybrids.
The plans center around a core of multi-functional accommodation, know-how, business and activities within the sector outlined by the railway plaza, Tullipakkahuone and the Kosila engine stalls.
At the entranceways to the town there will be two high-rise complexes, both of which will include three 12-storey towers. The planned and designed areas will house at most around 4,000 new residents.
Watch presentation video
Central park
The focal areas for physical exercise will be located within the central park. The number one priority, and also the largest and most expensive project, will be the hybrid arena in the heart of the central park. It will include a football stadium, as well as a sports arena with an indoor sports hall.
The protected arch section of the existing sports hall will be restored into a multi-purpose facility. There will be a pedestrian tunnel from the sports hall to the hybrid arena. The plan also includes, e.g. the extensions of the ice hall and the swimming hall, a public park with neighborhood sports areas and a seniors section, a new indoor sports hall, outdoor sports facilities and several sports fields.
An event site will also be built within the central park. This will comprise, among other things, an exhibition field and an area for outdoor concerts. The event site will make it possible to arrange cultural events, exhibitions, concerts and other events.
The building work will start between 2020 and 2023.
Watch presentation video
The train station area
The spearhead project around the train station area is the building of a railway plaza. The area is designed to be a versatile center for accommodation, business and activities. The entire area is 340,000 square ft, set on multiple floors. The pedestrian area will carry on to parts of the railway plaza.
Public transportation flow will be improved by bringing the bus station to the immediate vicinity of the station building. The passengers will be taken into consideration when building the waiting area and bike shelters, as well as making parking and traffic control more effective.
Pedestrians will be able to get to an island platform through a pedestrian underpass, and from there onto the Kosila side (south of the railway yard). This will, in turn, better join the area to the center of the town. Park-and-ride facilities will be relocated to the Kosila side.
Watch presentation video
KOKKOLA IN NUMBERS
EXPORT EUR 1.1 BILLION
Annual value of exports from Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP).
INVESTMENTS EUR 413 MILLION
Total value of investments made by KIP in 2010-2014.
70 FREE HECTARES FOR CHEMICAL SITES
Free area set aside for chemical industry at KIP.
TRADE AREA OF 143 000 PEOPLE
In the Kokkola trade area, there are 143,000 at least 12 year old people who have Finnish or Swedish as their native language.
RECORD YEAR FOR PORT, 8.575 MILLION TONS
Deadweight total handled during record year 2014 by Port of Kokkola, the third biggest port in Finland.
13% SWEDISH SPEAKING
Customers get service in both of the two national languages of Finland, in Kokkola, as 13% of the inhabitants speak Swedish as their native language.
CONNECTIONS
Airport
The airport is 20 km from Kokkola center.
www.ckj.fi
Port
The third largest general port in Finland serves businesses in Kokkola. There’s regular container traffic from Kokkola port to Antwerp, and everywhere in the world from there.
www.portofkokkola.fi
Railway
Kokkola has excellent rail connections for passengers and freight.
www.vr.fi
NEWS