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The President of the Republic completed his tour of Viljandimaa
03.09.2003


President Rüütel at Viljandi visited the enterprise Hansa Candle manufacturing candles and matchsticksPresident Arnold Rüütel and Mrs Ingrid Rüütel today completed their tour of the County of Viljandimaa; tomorrow, they will meet the President of the Republic of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, at Rezekne and, together with her, arrive in the afternoon in Viljandi.

This morning, President Rüütel at Viljandi visited the enterprise Hansa Candle manufacturing candles and matchsticks, and opened a new candle production line there. Thereafter, they called at AS Viljandi Metal where the Chairman of its Board, Jaan Sulg, broached the scarcity of skilled workers as one of local businessmen's main problems. Sulg opined that this was caused, in the first place, by the fact that a national plan for the development of vocational education was still lacking. Also in the President's opinion, the state should pay more heed to the modernization of our education system.

At noon, the Head of State at the Basic School of Kõpu met with pupils and other local residents. Speaking about the advantages of the accession to the European Union, President Rüütel noted that people eager to learn had no reason at all to be afraid of the accession. He added based on what he had seen in Viljandimaa that vigorous development of enterprise and competent use of local resources would be great advantages in the EU too.

In the afternoon, the Head of State at Halliste, at a farm Oru-Nõlvaku by name, had a meeting with mayors and officials of the County of Viljandimaa. Chairman of Local Government Association Jaan Lukas said that local governments were not content with either the delay in reforming regional administration or the ineffective system of vocational education. The population of Viljandimaa, on top of that, was not satisfied with the situation where the county having the longest mileage of gravel roads received no funds from the National Roads Programme.

Pajumäe Arvo Veidenberg, owner of Pajumäe Farm, acquainted the visitors with his organic farmThe President's county visit ended with a meeting with farmers in the Rural Municipality Abja. Arvo Veidenberg, owner of Pajumäe Farm, acquainted the visitors with his organic farm producing yoghurt and curds. At the same time they talked about possibilities to develop organic farming both in Estonia and in the EU. In President's view, Estonian farmers could take aim at this very niche in Europe since the demand for organic products was on a constant rise. The farmers also were interested in when our national agreement was to be concluded, which, according to the President, was likely to take place soon.

This evening, President Rüütel will travel to Rezekne in Latvia where he is scheduled to meet Latvian Head of State Vaira Vike-Freiberga tomorrow morning. Both Presidents will deliver addresses at the Rezekne Higher Education Institute and hold a press conference. Subsequently, they will together arrive in Viljandi to meet at 15:00 pm with local people at the Theatre Ugala. After the meeting, the Presidents of Estonia and Latvia will hold another joint press conference.


Office of the President
Kadriorg, September 3, 2003


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