Former Angry Bird Developer Wants To Boost Malaysia's Education And Entertainment Sector

By Christine Lim

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Former developer of Angry Birds online gaming franchise Peter Vesterbacka sees potential in the education and entertainment industries in Malaysia.

The Finnish entrepreneur said there is room for start-up entrepreneurship to grow in Malaysia and he is prepared to harness the various possibilities.

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The co-founder of an infrastructure project known as FinEst Bay Area involving the Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel and four stations connected to the tunnel, Vesterbacka is on a five-day visit to Malaysia from Sept 24-29. The project links Finland and Estonia, hence FinEst.

Vesterbacka will be meeting government officials in digital, technology development and natural resources here, in line with his global footprint of investing in people and talent. 

“The education development arm of the FinEst Bay Area, known as Finest Future, which I am spearheading as the co-founder, is keen to introduce Finnish education in Malaysia, starting from high school to university level, to develop talent and entrepreneurship,” Vesterbacka told Bernama in an interview recently.

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“We want to create an environment for people to foster their individuality and creativity and develop their potential and this starts by learning Finnish,” he said.

Finest Future is the education development arm of FinEst Bay Area. It aims to create economic growth in Finland and Estonia. It provides online learning.

It facilitates, evaluates and provides certification in Finnish language proficiency for young people entering Finland’s high schools and universities starting from 15 to 16 years.

It is easier to adapt to Finnish life at a much younger age, he said.

Vesterbacka said the World Happiness Report has ranked Finland as the happiest country. It does not discriminate in terms of age, gender, race and religion as the society believes in equality.

“Finland provides a cheaper alternative compared to other countries. One can get free high school and tertiary education and only need to pay for living expenses which amounts to 6,720 euros (one euro=RM4.61) a year versus 15,000 euro or more in other western countries,” he said.

According to Vesterbacka, Finest Future has expanded Finnish education to more than 20 countries, including Uzbekistan, Africa, South America, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and China since it was set up four years ago.

Finest Future has offices in Vietnam, Thailand and Finland.

“We have currently 1,000 students with a potential 2,000 coming onboard,” he said.

Vesterbacka emphasised that the aim is to enable young people from various countries to seek high value jobs and adapt to Finnish life.

“We will also explore partnerships with international schools in Malaysia,” he said, adding that it is important to equip young people with life skills via education, particularly when developing entrepreneurship.

Vesterbacka, an investor in more than 70 companies, said he is also exploring artificial intelligence and sustainable sectors in Malaysia.

On FinEst Bay Area infrastructure project involving the Finland-Estonia undersea rail tunnel, among the longest in the world, he said the legal aspects of it are currently with the Estonian authorities.

Time Magazine named Vesterbacka as among the 100 most influential people on the planet in 2011.

-- BERNAMA