| |
 | Speeches | | |
The President of the Republic At the 7th Annual Baltic Development Forum Summit, Stockholm, October 17, 200517.10.2005
Honourable Uffe Ellemann-Jensen,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen!
The topic of the current Forum is undeniably weighty. Some time ago, a Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson wrote in one of her articles, where she addressed the matters of the UN, that we cannot live in the 21st century by the principles of the 20th century. According to those principles the main task of governments was strengthening and cementing their states' sovereignty, but the rapidly changing challenges of the new century demand shared responsibility and joint activities from the governments.
In other words - we have to find ways and means to combine the advancement of national interests with the advancement of regional and global common interests. It means that we have to rely on cooperation that takes into account each other's needs.
This has been the course that the European Union has followed throughout its development, attaching great attention to regional policy and balanced development of regions. In recent years, the development of the Baltic Sea region has been especially remarkable - certainly the fastest in the European Union.
The remarkable economic development of our region has taken place as a result of a number of factors. I believe that one of the most important among them is the decades-long cooperative culture and tradition of cooperation among the Nordic countries. This has ensured the efficiency and stability of intra-regional cooperation and long-term economic growth. Because of that, the Nordic countries have gained the status of core countries of the Baltic Sea region.
On the other hand, the favourable starting positions of the new members of the European Union, including Estonia, has been another precondition for the relatively quick pace of economic development of our region in recent years. The efforts of these countries were stimulated by the prospect of becoming the EU members and thereafter by the development environment that opened to the new members.
As a side remark, I would like to add that this line of argument is supported, among other things, by the fact that the three Baltic states currently form the fastest developing area within the European Union. For example, in the second quarter of this year, output growth in Lithuania was 8 percent, in Estonia 9.9 percent and in Latvia even 11.6 percent. At the same time, employment has improved considerably.
With falling rates of unemployment, the rapid pace of economic development is revealing a new problem - labour shortage. This particularly concerns those sectors that employ highly skilled workers for whom there is a strong demand in older EU member states. I would like to name here construction, metal industry, but also IT sector from where a considerable number of qualified specialists have left to work in other, more or less distant EU member states.
Estonia, like the other EU member states, has firmly supported the principles and goals of the Lisbon Strategy - strengthening the competitiveness of the EU and improving employment - since the very beginning. However, I would like to emphasise that we should not make a fetish of competitiveness and forget the social dimension, i.e. people. Therefore, I warmly welcome the Baltic Sea Initiative 2010, where the main focus is on increasing competitiveness of our region through innovation, science and education.
The development of the Baltic Sea region has been remarkably quick in recent years and the prognosis for the next few years is optimistic. I also believe that the Initiative's goal of turning the Baltic Sea region into a so-called role model in Europe by 2010 is achievable if we succeed in pooling our intellectual resources and in following the course of innovation and sustainability. In the next few years the weight of the Baltic Sea region will be increased even more by the development of Northwest Russia, especially St. Petersburg, which has been impressive in the recent years and could give a significant impetus to the development of the whole region.
For years I have been active in environmental protection issues, including those of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to point out that while pursuing quick economic development we should not forget the Baltic Sea and the risks involved in the rapid growth of economic activity. The traffic of big tankers in our common sea is growing year after year; new gigantic pipelines and high capacity transmission cables are built on the bottom of the sea. Such situation demands from us a great sense of responsibility and respect for the environment as well as for each other's interests.
While speaking of the goal of making the Baltic Sea a role model not only in Europe but also at the global level by 2010, I would like to single out one more aspect. While promoting the interests of this region, the countries in this region, and our people, we must not overlook the common interests of the European Union and of the entire area that shares European values.
Regardless of the fact that the economic interests increasingly predominate everywhere in the world, including Europe, we cannot ignore the significance of international relations for regional development. Further economic development in our region requires not only smooth and unhindered ties between enterprises and their managers, not only innovation and creation of a common forum, but also promotion of formal relations between the states. Among other things, it also requires final regulation of problems related to borders, which would undoubtedly increase trust and certainty in international relations.
Thank you for your attention.
|
| |
|
vpk.ee
