GUILDHALL 18th October 1995

On behalf of my wife and myself, I wish to express to you, my Lord Mayor, and to the Aldermen and the Common Councilmen of the City of London, my heartfelt gratitude for your kind words of welcome.

I consider it not merely a personal privilege but above all an honour to my country and to the Finnish people that the Corporation of London tonight extends to us its hospitality on the occasion of our visit to the United Kingdom at the gracious invitation of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

Your words of welcome reflect the historically close relationship between Finland and the United Kingdom. Our commercial and economic relations are long-standing and successful, dating back to the beginning of the 18th century. Finland's green gold was black in those days, for our forests were turned to tar, of which a large quantity was used by the Royal Navy to protect its ships against mouldering.

Later, in 1884, regular weekly shipping began from Finland to Hull. At that time, our main exports to Britain were timber and butter. In the 19th century, your country participated in a remarkable way in the shaping of Finland's early industrial development. Today Great Britain is our third biggest trading partner and one of the biggest consumers of Finnish paper. Britain and Finland export many high-tech products to one another: on the Finnish side, these include mobile phones and other telecommunications equipment.

I am very pleased to have this occasion to visit the historic Guildhall and the City of London. The City has for centuries, through good times and bad, looked outwards to the wider world in its quest to promote international trade and the finance that underpins it. The excellence of the services offered by the City of London in banking, insurance, shipping and the capital markets, and the professions which complement them, are well known in Finland.

I am sure that the strong bonds between Finnish industry, banks and insurers and the City of London will be further stimulated by Finland and Britain's new partnership within the European Union.

My Lord Mayor, I would like to thank you and all the members of the Corporation of London for your warm welcome, and to express my best wishes for the continued prosperity and success of the City of London and for the happiness of its citizens.