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The President of the Republic introduced Estonian economy in Japan
02.11.2004


President Arnold Rüütel on his official working visit to Japan today visited several enterprises in Tokyo and opened an Estonian business seminar.

In the morning the President of the Republic together with the official and business delegations visited Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd, which also owns the Panasonic brand. The Head of Estonian State was greeted by Yukio Shohtoky, a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Vice President in charge of Overseas Operations. At the VIP-visiting centre on the artificial island of Odaiba President Rüütel was given a thorough overview of the Panasonic's activities and possibilities of new technologies, which would be sent to the market in a few years.

As Matsushita Electric Industrial pays a lot of attention to the development of environmentally friendly production, President Rüütel proposed an idea to set up a used technological equipment recycling plant in Estonia in order to serve the needs of the Baltic region. President Rüütel said that this would facilitate the achievement of environment-sparing goals set by the European Union, and that it would be possible to realise such a project within the framework of already existing programmes. In addition to the idea offered by President Rüütel, Minister Ansip urged to study the suitability of Estonia for primary launching of new technologies to the market. Expressing the interest of the leaders of Matsushita in suggested ideas, Vice-President Shohtoku said that they are ready for learning more about Estonia and for potential cooperation. The fact that both Matsushita enterprise and the Republic of Estonia celebrated their 85th anniversary this year, created a pleasant background for exchange of thoughts.

Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Kondo hosted a dinner in honour of the President of the Republic and Mrs. Ingrid Rüütel, which was attended also by Shigeo Uetake, the former Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.

President Arnold Rüütel and the president of the company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Yasuhide SakinagaThereafter President Rüütel visited the marine transportation company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, which uses the trademark ''K'' LINE. President of the company Yasuhide Sakinaga gave an overview of his company's activities, which reach all over the world. The company is engaged in multiple activities but focuses mainly on marine transport logistics. President Arnold Rüütel and Üllar Raad, Chairman of the Board of Esteve Terminal OÜ explained the competitive advantages of Estonian ports. According to Yasuhide Sakinaga his company has not yet had any relations with the Baltic States but they intend to turn more attention on this region in future. In connection with this he expressed his interest in maritime education in Estonia and President Rüütel gave a brief overview of the latter.

Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Andrus Ansip together with the business delegation visited the headquarters of JTB Corporation, a company, which is engaged in tourism and investments and works in close cooperation with Estonia.

The President of the Republic opened the Estonian business seminar "Welcome to Estonia". President Rüütel acknowledged the contribution of the Government of Japan, the foreign trade organisation JETRO, the tourism and investment company JTB but also Finnair to successful organisation of the seminar. The main organisers of the seminar were Enterprise Estonia and the Estonian Embassy in Tokyo

In his opening address the President of the Republic invited Japanese businessmen to have a holiday in Estonia as well as to establish business contacts. "Estonia has a lot to learn from Japan in different fields, including the establishment of the knowledge-based society. Japan is known worldwide as a country of capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive high technology. As to the investments to R&D Japan holds a leading place in the world. The most modern and best equipped IT, gene- and nanotechnology laboratories are in Japan. Such investments are also welcome in Estonia," said President Rüütel.

Also Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Andrus Ansip, Enterprise Estonia senior adviser in foreign investments and trade Andrus Viirg made presentations on business environment in Estonia. Chairman of the Board of Ericsson in Estonia Veiko Sepp, Chairman of the Board of EMT Valdo Kalm, and Member of the Management Board of Elcoteq in Tallinn Ilmar Petersen gave an overview of Estonia as a country with well-developed e-services and m-services. President of Estonian Association of Travel Agents and Managing Director of Estravel Travel Agency Anne Samblik talked about Estonian tourism sector.

After the seminar at Hotel Imperial the President of the Republic and Mrs. Ingrid Rüütel hold a reception for the Estonian delegation and guests of the business seminar. The reception was attended also by Norimasa Hasegava, the former Japanese Ambassador to Estonia and presently a member of the House of Councillors of the Diet, Shigeo Uetake, the former Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and presently Head of Japanese-Estonian Friendship Group in the Diet, Koki Kobayashia, a member of the Diet's National Defence Committee and Mayor of Saku Daisuke Miura.

In the evening President Rüütel met with the Foreign Minister of Japan Nobutaka Machimura who hosted a dinner in honour of the Head of Estonian State. The President of the Republic and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura had a discussed on a number of topics, including the participation of both Estonia and Japan in international cooperation for fighting terrorism. At the meeting held in very friendly atmosphere both sides agreed that Estonia and Japan share the same opinion about planned UN reforms - both sides see the need for strengthening the influence of UN in order to be more efficient in finding solutions to crisis situations.

The issues of cooperation in the field of culture and science were also discussed, highlighting the role of cultural heritage in livening up tourism. In this context a recent decision made by the Government of Japan to support Tallinn Pedagogical University and the Estonian Sumo Association sponsoring the purchasing of necessary equipment. President Rüütel pointed out that sports, which have Japanese background are very popular in Estonia and have brought success to Estonia at the Olympic Games.

The President of the Republic also visited the Estonian Embassy in Tokyo where Argo Kangro, Charge d'Affairs ad interim, met the Head of State.

Tomorrow President Rüütel will visit Osaka and will have meetings with several business representatives. The Head of State will arrive back to Estonia on Thursday evening.


Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, November 2, 2004


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