WELCOMING ADDRESS BY MR. MARTTI AHTISAARI,
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND AT THE OSAKA ECONOMIC SEMINAR
ON 24 SEPTEMBER 1997

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this seminar. It is an excellent follow-up to the seminar called 'Finland-Kansai Partnership; New Business Centers in Europe and Asia', which was held here in Osaka 18 months ago. The eagerness of the Finnish authorities and business sector to arrange these seminars shows that Finland is well aware that Kansai is a great, dynamic economic area, and attaches great importance to cooperation between Finland and Kansai.

We are very grateful for the work done by the City of Osaka, the prefecture, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Kankeiren in arranging these seminars. I venture to interpret this as an expression of interest on the part of Kansai, both in Finland and in furthering cooperation between us.

Although Finland still seems to be perceived by some Japanese people as a country far away in the north, it is in fact closer to Japan than any other West European country. Flying from the airport in Kansai or Narita to Helsinki takes 9 or 10 hours - the same time as a flight from Japan to the west coast of the United States or to New Zealand. In fact, only one country lies between us, our common neighbour, Russia.

In addition to its excellent geographical location, Finland offers a healthy economy, a high standard of technology and education, and a modern information society.

Finnish membership of the European Union gives you access not only to the Finnish market but also to the common market, whose 370 million consumers make it the biggest market in the world. Russia also has major economic centres near the Finnish border, including the St Petersburg area, whose economic importance is expanding rapidly. The Baltic countries, and particularly Estonia, are also right next to Finland. In the new Europe created by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Finland lies at the heart of what is called the New Northern European Marketplace, with 70 million consumers. This key position and the short distances involved are well illustrated by the fact that goods shipped from Finland reach every consumer in the area within 24 hours.

Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has been hosting important political meetings and conferences ever since the 1970s. In the new Europe, Finland is also a trade centre and a gateway between east and west.

The new business opportunities offered by Finland have begun to attract increasing numbers of foreign investors. The telecommunications and electronics sector and the forest industry are proving particularly interesting. We are very pleased to note that some Japanese companies have also made considerable investments in production facilities in Finland in recent years.

The Economic and Monetary Union that will come into being as of the beginning of 1999 will be a crucial step towards further European integration. It is a change that will bring interesting new opportunities.

Implementation of Economic and Monetary Union will provide much-needed stability in the world's currency system. Finland aims to be one of the first Member States to embark on Economic and Monetary Union, as of the beginning of 1999. In the present perspective, Finland should have no difficulty in fulfilling the criteria which have been set for membership. The economic growth now predicted will bring a reduction in the percentage of GDP accounted for by the government debt. Control of government spending and the estimated growth in revenues should correct the budget deficit in the next few years.

Finland's economic development is balanced in many ways: all demand items are growing, the employment rate is rising clearly, and there are no noticeable inflationary pressures in the economy. The predicted growth in GDP is 4.6% for 1997 and an average of 4% annually for the next few years.

Technological advances in Finland have been made at an unprecedented speed in the past few decades. The percentage of exports accounted for by high-technology products is one of the highest in the world. Investments will continue to be made in research and development; funding will be increased to 2.9% of GDP by 1999.

Investments in human capital, training and research are the key factors in developing Finland as an information society. Finnish people are curious by nature and are unprejudiced and keen to try out new things. So it is no wonder that Finland is at the forefront of many subsectors of communications and information technology. For instance, Finland has the highest number of Internet users and domain titles in the world, relative to population. One out of every three Finns has a mobile phone. So it is no wonder Finnish companies are among the international elite in these fields.

The future will witness an increase in the amount of electronic information published, transmitted and used in various sectors, particularly education and training, research and government, and the libraries, information services and archives serving them. The nation's IT and telecommunications infrastructure - the Finnish information superhighway - is to be integrated into a multi-level but seamless system. Schools and other educational institutions, libraries and public services will be integrated with the aid of technology. Finland's high educational standards and energetic investments in research and development will, in my opinion, continue to be the key elements in maintaining the international competitiveness of our industry.

Japan is clearly Finland's largest and most important trading partner and source of funding in Asia. Our bilateral trade has grown considerably. In the 1994 to 1995 period, the value of Finnish exports to Japan doubled. Forest industry exports have always been a key sector in exports to Japan, as elsewhere, but around the middle of this decade exports of machinery and equipment, including telecommunications systems, grew considerably.

I hope that we can work together during this visit to Japan to find new openings for increasing trade even further and making it more diversified. The Finnish Foreign Trade Association has designated this week 'Finnish Business Week in Japan'. In order to find new sectors for cooperation and new trading partners, Finland is also arranging an economic seminar in Tokyo tomorrow in cooperation with JETRO (the Japan External Trade Organization). In addition to the well-established sectors, Finnish companies hope to find new opportunities for cooperation in sectors such as environmental technology and care for the elderly.

Finland's relations with Japan and the Kansai area are good. Considering Kansai's strong and internationally oriented business sector, I feel it would be natural and important for economic ties to grow even further specifically in this area. The existing potential has not been exploited nearly enough. The prerequisites for greater economic cooperation are better now than ever before. Direct air connections, these seminars and various visits allow us to learn more about each other and our mutual potential for trade. We can both reap benefits from building an economic bridge between Europe and Asia, and all this shows great promise for the future.

I hope and I believe that this seminar will generate new trade links and forms of cooperation between companies in our two countries. I wish the best of success to all the participants and to economic cooperation between Kansai and Finland.

Thank you