Keynote speech by H.E. Mr Martti Ahtisaari, President of the
Republic of Finland
Singapore, January 27, 1995
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to have the opportunity to address this
distinguished audience of leaders of Singaporean business,
finance and industry.
I am ending my visit to Southeast Asia in Singapore, which
is usually the first destination for Finnish companies when
they start operating in Asia. Some 60 Finnish companies are
established in Singapore and operate in other parts of
Southeast and East Asia from this base.
Singapore is also of great importance to Finland as a centre
of international finance. That is why I met here today -
almost by accident - our Minister of Finance, Mr Viinanen,
who delivered his message at our seminar this morning.
Singapore has set an example in economic growth and
development to its neighbours. Economic growth in Southeast
and East Asia has been most impressive in recent years.
These regions are developing into economic powers comparable
in every respect with Europe and North America.
Finland became a member of the European Union at the
beginning of this year. It was our greatest political
decision since the Second World War. Acceding to the Union
was vital for Finland in many ways. I am convinced that
joining the EU improves the prospects for sound and dynamic
development of the Finnish economy. As a member of the
Union, Finland commits itself to the common economic and
monetary goals of the EU. We subject our decision-making
essentially to the same rules as the other Western European
economies, thereby enhancing our predictability in the eyes
of foreign investors.
During our seminar this morning you have heard accounts of
Finnish industry and some of our leading companies. The
companies present here today are all global operators. Asia,
and especially the most dynamic region Southeast Asia, is of
utmost importance for Finland and for Europe in general.
Europe and Asia, and in particular the European Union and
the ASEAN region, have developed an interdependence of great
value, also on a global scale.
As a new member of the EU, Finland encourages intensified
cooperation with Asia. The Union's new Asian strategy
provides a good basis for developing a more balanced
partnership that takes into account and also respects
differences between national cultures and traditions. In
many respects this dialogue can be regarded as an essential
driving force in strengthening ties with Asia.
I therefore welcome the proposal made by the Prime Minister
of Singapore for the organization of a Europe-Asia summit
before the end of this year.
The very substantial changes that have taken place in recent
years in Finland's geoeconomic and geopolitical position
have created new business opportunities for overseas
companies there. Our membership of the European Union means
that, through Finland, foreign companies now have unlimited
access to a huge single European market of nearly 400
million people.
We are convinced that there would be many opportunities for
cooperation between Finnish and Singaporean companies in
third markets. Finland has plenty of advanced technology
well suited to the vast infrastructure projects going on in
Asia. Finland is very competitive, and even a world leader
in the sectors where demand is now strongest; in
telecommunications, energy, forestry and environmental
technology. High-technology or technology-intensive products
make a major contribution to our exports here.
Over 10 years ago, Finland embarked on the road of
increasing the role played by high technology in exporting.
The proportion of high-tech products in our exports, as
measured by the OECD, rose from four per cent in 1980 to 16
per cent in 1993. We are not yet in the leading group of
Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, which have
over 20 per cent, but we are already in the next group of
between 15 and 20 per cent, with Germany and Sweden.
Finland has always been a strong proponent of the open
multilateral trading system. We worked actively for the
success of the GATT Uruguay Round. We must, however,
recognize that we will be dealing with complicated issues
within the framework of the WTO. For instance, we certainly
support efforts to improve labour standards and standards of
environmental protection, but we remain firmly opposed to
attempts to turn these efforts into protectionism of one
sort or another.
Parallel with developments in the GATT/WTO, we have been
following with keen interest the plans and recent
initiatives in the field of regional economic cooperation
and integration in Asia. We welcome the liberal spirit in
which these initiatives are being envisaged and implemented:
instead of creating barriers, they seem to aim at
facilitating market access. Thus they effectively complement
the GATT and the WTO, a development that I believe will be
in the interests of us all.
We also welcome Singapore's initiative to host the first
ministerial meeting of the WTO.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me now propose a toast to your health and well-being, to
the continuous prosperity of Singapore and its people, and
to the further development of relations between our two
countries.