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The President of the Republic at the Luxembourgian-Estonian Business Forum on 6 May 200306.05.2003
Honourable Ministers,
Businessmen,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to greet you on behalf of the whole Estonian delegation!
It's a special feeling to visit Luxembourg only a few weeks after signing the EU Accession Treaty and knowing that it was just during the Presidency of Luxembourg that the current enlargement process was given and extra impetus. I am pleased to note that already in a year Estonia can be a Member State of the European Union.
Also the large attendance at the today's event indicates that both sides have a significant interest to increase their knowledge of each other.
Let me make some introductory remarks characterizing Estonia. For me, Estonia is a maritime woody country. The territory of our country is a little more than 45 thousand square kilometres, but to that we can add 20 thousand plus kilometres of territorial sea and economic zone. Nearly half of the country is covered with woods. Estonia's romantic coastline and diversified and unspoilt nature are values we are trying to preserve for both the present and future nature lovers.
Many visitors from Western Europe are surprised to see that Estonia is so sparsely populated - on average, only 33 persons are living per square kilometre. Yet these tenacious, adaptable, ambitious and enterprising people are the greatest value Estonia has. We have together carried out and experienced the rapid reforms of the last decade. Our early-evolved connections with the Nordic Countries helped our open economy to establish close trade relations with Europe's industrial countries and attract foreign investments needed to accelerate progress.
I am in no doubt that the continuity of our domestic policy has been a guarantee of Estonia's success in foreign policy. Avoiding sudden shifts in direction, Estonia has earned the reputation of being a reliable, responsible and serious nation. I believe that Estonia and Luxembourg share the view that a country's reputation is based not only on its geographic extension and population size but also on its economy, success and wide range of reforms, politicians' cooperativeness and sense of responsibility.
Estonia saw already early that a country with limited human and natural resources could be successful only if it opened up its economy to investments and markets to free competition. This very integration into global economy along with successful economic reforms, stable legislation, firm currency system, advanced banking and services have made up the foundations of rapid success in Estonia and the whole of our region. High credit and economic ratings given to Estonia by international institutions indicate that our steps have not been overlooked. According to the Institute of Management Development, Estonia as to its competitiveness ranks 22nd, significantly higher than the rest of Central and Eastern European countries. Regarding its economic freedom, Estonia along with Denmark and the United States currently holds sixth place in the world.
We can be proud of a rapid progress and spread of information technology too. Seven years ago we launched a programme by the name of Tiger Leap aimed at providing Estonian school with computers. By the year 2000 we had reached our aim - all schools in Estonia had at least one computer. Moreover, Estonia created the world's first paper-free government, which has served as a model for all those who try the same.
By now, the proportion of private sector in Estonia's economy is 80%. Already since the first years following the restoration of independence, Estonia's economic policy has been based on the conviction that the state's principal role is to create a favourable environment for further development of products and services offered by private sector.
Secondly, it's most essential that the state and private sector be partners concentrating on new, innovative solutions and seeing to it that they could emerge. So, for example, the project of providing schools with computers gave birth to the project "Watch the World". This project was based to equal parts on state and private investments and helped solve a range of problems linked with information technology. For instance, Estonia has adopted a law on digital signatures, and it is possible to communicate with government agencies via Internet.
Today, in order to mould Estonia into a dynamic economy and balanced society, we can capitalize on the experience of the entire European Union. At the same time, I believe that also we can make on our part a substantial contribution to the future of the EU.
In order to develop successfully, both for Estonia and Luxembourg finding good allies has been as crucial as their fight for independence. The Estonians can learn a lot from the Luxembourgians who have stood at the cradle of the European Union and from your experience as Member of the European Union.
I have a feeling that from here we will take with us multifaceted knowledge of economy as well. It's true that Luxembourg, on the one hand, is a small country but, on the other hand, its gross domestic product is approximately as big as that of all three Baltic States combined. One of the world's largest financial centres and several large enterprises are located here. I would be delighted if ties between our two countries broadened during the present visit too.
It's a special pleasure to mention the Technology Cooperation Agreement going to be concluded between the Enterprise Estonia and its partners here. This cooperation agreement will be a cornerstone of exchanging knowledge and information as well as of joint projects, which definitely will contribute to the development of economic relations between our countries and strengthen our clout in Europe's common market.
However, the Estonian banking and energy experts already have good colleagues in Luxembourg. I do hope that the present forum gives rise to contacts between several other enterprises as well.
Having this in mind, I wish you all a strong sense of initiative and every success. And, Welcome to Estonia!
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