Cook towards Finland — From international talent to growth and competitiveness to growth centres, problems with the availability of skilled labour have become more common in almost all industries and in almost all regions, especially in growth centres. In the coming years, Finland will need more talent than the Finnish population can offer. The Government’s Immigration Policy Programme for 2018 provides that Finland should strengthen employment-based immigration and the establishment of international experts and channel their expertise to support business growth and internationalisation. The Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Central Finland (ELY) has granted funding to the Southwest Finland ELY Centre for the implementation of the ESF project. The project is called “Together towards Finland — from international talent to growth and competitiveness in growth centres”, and the project implements the Government’s Talent Boost Operational Programme. The project will be implemented from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021. If the project subsequently receives further funding, the activities will be carried out until the end of 2023. The aim of the project is to secure the growth of companies in growth centres by promoting the recruitment of international workers to the Finnish labour market. In addition to increasing attractiveness, supportive resettlement services are needed in order to ensure that the engagement of the spouses and family members of the newly recruited skilled workers can have an impact on long-term establishment. At the same time, efforts should be made to get international experts already in the country interested in Finland’s opportunities and to support them in establishing themselves. During the project, operational practices will be developed through regional project calls that attract and help international talent and their families to settle in each growth centre region. In addition, employers will be supported by lowering the recruitment threshold for foreign professionals to work communities. In order to make it possible to attract international talent to the Finnish labour market, work communities must be trained to make employers more easily and on a larger scale more enthusiastic about recruiting foreign talent. Employers’ doors should be opened for recruitment of foreigners. Regional project calls will strengthen the multifunctional cooperation networks of the regions (the so-called Talent Hub) and the mobilisation of international experts in these networks. Kokka — the project guides actors interested in recruiting international workers in the regions in order to create consortia and obtain good project applications. If such a network is not already in place in the growth centre area, efforts will be made to establish such a network in the area. Regional projects constitute a whole that can be identified on an equal footing with each other. Approximately 15 regional projects are planned to be implemented during the Kokka project.The Kokka project, in cooperation with Business Finland and the urban regions, implements measures to increase the attractiveness of Finland. The project will produce land marketing material that will be available to regional projects. At national level, the project also supports the organisation of various recruitment events. In addition, the project pilots the establishment service solutions for SMEs — using public-private cooperation, which may include, for example, assistance to immigration authorities, migration and housing-related services.Together, the project aims at closer interaction between immigration, employment and business policies, and to disseminate and consolidate the practices developed during the project. The main target groups of the project are services aimed at promoting international recruitment. The secondary target group is foreign employees and employers recruiting foreign talents.