Application instructions and forms

Authorising a private individual

The application for Business Partnership Support is submitted in the e-Service from the client’s own account, which requires authentication through the Suomi.fi service. In order to use the e-Service on behalf of a company, a private individual must be assigned a company mandate and the correct mandate theme. A private entrepreneur must also authorise themselves to use the service on their company’s behalf.

A company can authorise an individual in the Suomi.fi service and assign them the correct mandate theme (Applying for subsidies/Mandate for transactions) on the ‘Applying for subsidies’ page. The Suomi.fi service is maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. If necessary, the agency will answer any questions related to authorisation and mandates.

Application forms

The applicant shall submit the following documents through the e-Service:

1. Basic information sheet and its appendices:

• Trade Register Extract (max. 3 months old)
• The company’s two most recent financial statements (information from the last three financial periods). If at least six months have passed since the end of the last financial period, provide also the most recent profit and loss account and balance sheet. If the financial statements are not available, include an up-to-date profit and loss account and balance of the applicant organisation as well as the CVs of the key personnel of the project with the basic information form.

2. Project application form and its appendices:

• The expense budget for the project (Excel file)
• Development impact questionnaire
• Affirmation
• Form of the non-application of the de minimis regulation (if necessary)

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs reviews the basic information sheet in 1–3 business days and sends an acknowledgement of receipt through the e-Service. After this, the applicant can fill in the project application. Following that, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs reviews the project application in 1–3 business days and sends an acknowledgement of receipt through the e-Service.

The project application must focus on one project type. If the applicant applies for funding for two different project types, separate applications should be submitted for each. You can find an example of the project application here and the instructions for filling in the application here.

If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finds the basic information sheet or project application form incomplete, the applicant is requested to provide more information in the acknowledgement of receipt. Any additional information requested must be provided by submitting a notification of amendment form available in the e-Service.

The acknowledgement of the receipt of the project application indicates the project’s registration date and shows the applicant that their application has been received successfully. The basic information sheet remains valid for six months from the filing date. The applicant can use the same basic information sheet for multiple applications for Business Partnership Support, provided that the accompanying Trade Register Extract must not be more than three months old.

Finnpartnership helps with preparing the application

Finnpartnership contacts the applicant during the application process and gives the applicant an opportunity to provide additional information. Finnpartnership provides the Ministry for Foreign Affairs with a statement based on the application. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs issues a discretionary government transfer decision that defines whether the applicant is granted Business Partnership Support. If necessary, the applicant may contact the Finnpartnership employees who are responsible for processing applications for Business Partnership Support.