Opening: Welcoming Words - Paavo Arhinmäki, City of Helsinki

[music] [music] [music]
I would like to hand over, right on time, to our first speaker just giving a few opening words for the day. We're very, very grateful to have with us an honor to be joined by the Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure, Mr. Paavo Arhinmäki. Please come to the stage and and and will welcome us to the conference. Thank you. Thank you for joining us. There we go.
Thank you, Dave. Pretty well like the said my name. It was almost like the Finn. But only almost. So, good Good morning, everyone.

As Dave told, my name is Paavo Arhinmäki and I'm Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure, which means that in my portfolio there is a culture, there is sport, there is youth services, and there is libraries. And as well, I served as a Minister for whole nation in same portfolio 10 years ago. So, I have looking these issues from the perspective of whole nation and now in the Helsinki city level. Uh If we think gaming, it brings uh uh all these fields more or less together. It's interesting blending of the technology and entertainment, but as well creative culture and sport. Uh and as a gaming industry, it's [snorts] still relatively young. Uh gaming and interesting game is naturally growing all the time and now you have a proper

loaded here in the states what what coming to the game game industry cuz for me the most important games are the electronic games home King Kong which we played 80s in the school and and the Nintendo box with Mario Bros and then the best game ever would have been in the Game Boy it was Tetris. Since that I haven't played but now I'm playing one mobile game which is more like little bit like Tetris it's something called uh uh uh in boring meetings I'm playing in the mobile game which we do the Blockbuster or something like that. So so the the perspective is that one but I recognize and understand the important for the gaming and we can see it among the youth in Helsinki and Helsinki is the youth services are organizing

uh loads of different uh gaming activities in our youth centers in the city where the activities including uh LAN events, gaming competitions, tournaments, and leagues as well as the courses and camps uh and that's how we see it we I I have always thought that we should not do what we have done we should do what the kids the young would like to do. And and as well the if we are thinking uh the gaming industry it have rise as well art form new art form. Uh I'm doing art by my hands more but uh it have done very interesting uh artist perspective. Uh for example Helsinki awarding every year the artist of the year and this year 2026 Ville Kallio was awarded as the artist of the year uh

and and we had a exhibition of the young artist called Generation 2026. Every other, uh, year it's in Amos Rex Helsinki City Centre, one of the major art museums. And there was a three different pieces of gaming art. And one was done, which I'm very proud, in our youth center. The youth of Helsinki, together with the youth services, was done the artwork which was in the, uh, exhibition. And of course, Helsinki, uh, has been one of the, uh, uh, industry's success stories. The this event is one part of it as well, of course. Dozens of new companies have emerged recent years. And waste of majority of Finland's game industry work forces is bound here in Helsinki and Helsinki metropolitan area. And I have understood that the one of the reasons

why we have, uh, more than 100 different kind of studios in Helsinki metropolitan area is that, uh, the the way how, how people are, uh, connecting each other here, uh, relative small area. Even population in the Helsinki metropolitan area is something like 1.3 million, uh, inhabitants. So, the it's very easy to connect each other other ways as well than uh, we are met and the the the supportive culture which we have in Finland that we are helping each other even though, uh, firms could be, the companies could be competitors with each other. Same times they are helping each others. And I think that's uh, it's the thing which bring much more for the for for the, uh, whole industry. Uh, so, I would like to see all of you, what was it more than 40 different countries here here. I like I hope you enjoy being

here in Helsinki. Enjoying, of course, the conference, but I hopefully you can enjoy as well the Helsinki city. You are just in city center, very easy connections by tram every and local traffic everywhere. The beautiful weather it's always like that in autumn in in Helsinki and and the the uh the culture, the restaurants, the the friendliness of people and and as well the Helsinki is very secure city. For example, you can take metro to the East Helsinki suburbs like in Kontula if you are until weekend there is a tasting Kontula festival in the mall all different countries around the world giving which have the restaurants there and so on. So, enjoy and you are more than welcome here and I hope you all learn new things. You meet new friends and get new connections from

the conference and enjoy being here in Helsinki. So, on behalf of Helsinki city, welcome.
[music] [music]