Edward Dutton talks to Ashesh Kumar (Indian) - Director of Oulu’s Bio-Technology Company Medipolis GMP.

‘The names, even the medical applications , are confidential,’ said Dr. Ashesh Kumar. We produce clinical material for companies that are developing cures for illnesses for which there are no medicines. . . such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.’
Dr. Kumar, originally from Delhi, has been in Oulu for around nine months. The director of Medipolis GMP, near Oulu’s Technopolis Complex, he works on producing materials ‘ which go for clinical trails and are then made into medicines. We produce them in a ‘clean environment.’
‘I was working for the MJ Group which is based in the UK,’ the forty year-old father of one recalled. ‘They wanted to expand to Oulu and it was decided that I should take care of the facility . . . so I came here in December 2006.’

‘You can feel the nature here!’

With the very different temperature and lifestyle from his native Delhi, Dr. Kumar has been fascinated by Oulu.
‘Oulu is the most unique place in the world!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ve travelled all around the world and Oulu is just unique!’ Oulu’s closeness to nature has particularly impressed the Bio-technician.
‘You can feel the nature here! You’re close to nature but Oulu’s also very High Tech. Some towns in Finland that are just High Tech and concrete and others that are just close to nature . . . but Oulu has both. ’
Dr. Kumar handed me a copy of Medipolis GMP’s brochure which testified to this. The high tech, modern Medipolis GMP building was pictured on front and back nestled amongst forest in spring on the back and blanketed in snow on the front.
He felt that Oulu had a great deal to offer to expatriate businessmen such as himself.
‘There’s a challenging atmosphere here . . . it’s very good!’ answered Dr. Kumar when I enquired about how he had found running a business in Oulu.

‘People are very meticulous’

‘People here are meticulous, they are knowledgeable . . . the property is very reasonably priced . . . and most importantly people are hard-working. When they promise to make a report you for you . . . it’s done! You can take it from granted that the work will be completed. !’
Dr. Kumar later commented on how crucial he felt hard work to be in international business.
‘Diligence is what matters, in todays’s competitive business surroundings. ’ he said. At Medipolis GMP, we are making our best efforts to further streamline our activities so as to compete with rest of the world and at the same time deliver what we promise to our clients in time.

But despite the competitive atmosphere of running an international business Dr Kumar from Oulu remained positive.
‘It is a wonderful place to work!’ he smiled. ‘There are good students coming from the university . . . I see Oulu – the whole city – as a kind of Living in a High Tech Campus!’
Dr. Kumar felt that it would helpful if Oulu could let expatriates know in advance a little more about the quirks of running a business in Finland. ‘The UK offers this, for example, and it’s very helpful,’ he remarked.
But it was Oulu’s ‘most congenial atmosphere’ that had enamoured Dr. Kumar the most.
‘There are such congenial surroundings. I think this helps you to focus and concentrate. It’s close to nature . . . and so very calm . . . and I think that this makes it a thought-provoking place . . . it provokes new ideas. Maybe that’s why there are so many Hi-Tech off-shoots in Oulu,’ he contemplated.
Medipolis GMP is itself soon to be expanding. ‘We are trying to grow more in Europe and the USA . . .’ enthused Dr Kumar ‘. . . though networks and contacts. It takes time though,’ he noted philosophically. ‘It’s very much a time taking exercise!’

‘An up and coming area’

Dr. Kumar had become involved in Bio-technology back in India in the 1980s because, ‘it was up and coming area.’
‘India is very competitive because there are so many people and it was so competitive to get into university to study Bio-technology. So I suppose I really wanted to prove to myself and my family that I could do it . . . that I could take on the challenge!’
He added, ‘You have to be very energetic and ambitious in India. And I am not from avery rich Indian family where you have an option to pay lots of money to go to a university in the US!’ Dr. Kumar studied at ‘Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) , Roorkee.’ IIT’s in India are well known institutions for technology and engineering courses.
However, there were a few things about Oulu that, as an Indian, Dr. Kumar has found rather peculiar.
‘You never call an elderly person by their name in India . . . and a student will never call a teacher by his /her name. ! But here this is okay!’ he laughed, still amazed by the difference.

‘I felt I that must be on holiday!’

When asked what he missed most about India, he had no problems in finding an answer.
‘Crowds!’ he was ready with the answer . ‘In India you get used to see so many people around! When I first got here I felt that I must be on holiday!’ he grinned. ‘I had to adjust to it and say to myself, “No! I’m not on holiday! I’m working!”’
‘Why is it so quiet!’ he mused, ‘I mean in a good way. But there are no crowds.’
.
There’s no Hindu Temple or anything in Oulu but, as a Hindu, Dr. Kumar doesn’t really miss this much.
And, most crucially for Dr. Kumar, Oulu is able to cater for the needs of his young son.
‘I have a four year-old son and we had no problem finding an English-language Kindergarten in Oulu,’ smiled Dr. Kumar. ‘That was so important for us.’
Despite his native language being Hindi, Dr. Kumar and his son usually converse in English however, ‘My son is picking the Finnish very quickly! He has already made some friends and teachers are so good that they are also like his friends. It makes him comfortable and it gives me an opportunity to focus on my work. !’