A marketplace between east and west Especially since Finland joined the European Union in 1995, a vast new marketplace of nearly 80 million people has been opening up in the northern Europe, encompassing Scandinavia, the Baltic countries and Russia as far as St. Petersburg, the Moscow region and the north-western part of Russia. At the hub of this rapidly developing market area lies the capital of Finland, Helsinki, and within the Helsinki metropolitan area lies Espoo. The shifting of focus farther east from the traditional Denmark-Sweden axis in northern Europe is also due to the political changes in Russia and the Baltic countries. It takes less than half an hour to drive from any of Espoo's five city centres to the Helsinki international airport. To Stockholm the flight takes 55 minutes, to St. Petersburg one hour, to London 2.5 hours, to New York 8 hours and to Tokyo 9 hours.
Daily connections are available from the Helsinki harbour to all the main ports on the Baltic sea.
Rail service to St. Petersburg and Moscow is quick and convenient, since Finland and Russia share the same rail gauge. Excellent rail service makes one-day freight deliveries possible to a region that is home to 40 million people. Every one of them has its own distinctive features. The Tapiola garden city, one of the regional city centres, is world renowned for its architecture. It's just a 15-minute drive from Tapiola to downtown Helsinki, and less than half an hour from Espoo's other city centres.