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The President of the Republic is touring the County of Võru27.03.2002
The tour of President Arnold Rüütel and Mrs Ingrid Rüütel to the County of Võru began with a call at the county government this morning and continued with an exchange of ideas with leaders of local governments and entrepreneurs in the municipalities of Meremäe and Vastseliina. Whereas 59 % of the county's residents are living in the countryside, but only 10% of the population in working age are engaged in traditional rural enterprise, the key issue at the talks was the prospect of enterprise in the countryside.
As the County Governor, Mait Klaassen noted, the top priority in Võru County is creating new jobs. At present, thanks to an abundance of raw materials and trained manpower, the food and woodworking industries are prevailing in the county. The latter, alongside with furniture industry, is also the most lucrative and developing most rapidly branch of local economy.
The entrepreneurs of Vastseliina, united in the club "Teisipäeva", brought out several circumstances hampering enterprise, for instance: the lack of stable economic contacts to Russia and limited abilities to borrow due to underpricing of real estate. The entrepreneurs also indicated that one concrete manifestation of the government's regional policy could be offering jobs for women in remote regions, and that the public broadcasting could cover life in those regions as well. Supported by the European Union, there is an industrial park being developed in the municipality of Vastseliina, where starting enterprises need not to spend their funds on building infrastructure.
At the Setumaa tourism farm in the municipality of Meremäe, the leaders of local governments of the region had gathered to meet the President, suggesting the President to convene a round-table which would systematically deal with problems of balanced regional development. To this the President could respond saying that this idea was at the stage of realization already. The leaders of local governments stressed the need to give rural regions certainty for carrying out long-term plans, in the way that the state provided the necessary resources for this purpose, either in the form of a fund for the support of counties, or as a certain appropriation from gross domestic product.
Mrs Ingrid Rüütel at Meremäe spoke with members of the local choir about the prospects of the cultural heritage of Setumaa and called at the pottery of Ivar Jõgeda, a craftsman at Rõuge. At around lunchtime, President Rüütel was introduced to the development plans of the Haanja municipality and, in the afternoon, will visit Võru Juust Ltd.
Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, March 27, 2002
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