Closing words by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at the Business Seminar at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 23 October 2007

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It is a real pleasure for me to visit Saudi Arabia. I am also delighted to attend this important gathering and to have the opportunity to address this distinguished audience.

Finland and Saudi Arabia have excellent relations with each other. I have understood that we intend to intensify them in the future in all fronts, political, economical, academic and cultural. I hope my visit with this high level business and expert delegation demonstrates our ambition very clearly.

I’ve been very impressed with the far-reaching economic reform plans of the Saudi Arabian Government. Economic City projects, industrial diversification efforts as well as infrastructure development plans are creating strong dynamism. The increased government spending has added a strong stimulus to the economy and created a positive impact on social development, including education, healthcare and infrastructure. We Finns would like to congratulate you due to the fact that these efforts have been reflected in strong growth figures and Saudi Arabia’s high position in several international business rankings.

I would like to reiterate, reflecting on Finnish experiences, some of the global challenges that I'm sure have been touched also in previous presentations. These include strengthening the open and competitive marketplace, environmental sustainability and equitable social development.

As a strong proponent of the multilateral system, Finland calls for flexibility and political leadership from all players to finalize the WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations. We urge all stakeholders to strive for a higher level of ambition that opens new markets and not only consolidation of existing practices. Finland also strongly supports efforts of Saudi-Arabia to finalize the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade negotiations during your presidency of the GCC.

Finland is often considered as an example of a country that has been able to reach a democratic society with sustainable economic growth. Today Finland is close to the top in many international rankings - for example in competitiveness, environmental sustainability, technology, industry-science relations and expenditure on research and development.

We have reached this position by using the opportunities offered by international trade and open investment environment and opportunities offered by globalization. Competition and open markets have acted as a catalyst for further innovation, efficiency and productivity and today many Finnish companies stand as global market leaders in their respective fields. We Finns know that we are a small nation, so we can never compete with quantity, only with quality.

Membership in the European Union has also given a boost to Finland’s economic performance. The EU provides us with an enlarged home market and a further stepping stone to world markets. I often compare the EU to a fleet, where there are small and big ships sailing stormy seas together and provide each other with necessary security and support. For Finland, the Union has certainly been this supportive fleet. Our sincere hope is that all the ships in this EU fleet would be well maintained.

However, the biggest economic challenge for us and for every country is to maintain its position and prosperity in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. We have to constantly work hard to keep up the best environment for business to maintain their competitive advantage and to provide a ground for prosperity. In the past decades also our efficiency in implementing necessary reforms when needed has been noted among reasons for our success.

One key success factor in Finland’s economic policy is our focus on education, science and research. These targets have traditionally been widely appreciated in our society. Our education system is based on the principle of providing equal learning opportunities for everyone, regardless of where they live or their gender, financial standing or cultural background. Lifelong learning has been given special importance in our country.

The importance of investing in people and of developing a strong skills base is also essential to support future economic growth. During this visit, it has become very clear that also the Saudi Government has decided to effectively address the need to focus on education and skills development. It is devoting considerable resources to a system that meets the needs of the nation and helps support future economic development. I can only strongly encourage you in that process and I am most willing to share Finnish experiences in that respect. Investing in people is truly a worthwhile investment.

When discussing global future challenges, it is essential to take into account environmental sustainability. We need to accept that increased emissions call for international action. Joint actions include promotion of technology transfers and use of efficient and clean technology both by fully exploiting existing technologies as well as by creating new innovative ones. Finland has no natural oil, gas or coal reserves and is therefore dependent on imported energy. Thus Finland is very advanced in know-how on clean technologies, for example technologies related to high energy efficiency.

Coming back to the bilateral relations, I believe that business communities are key driving forces in improving economic co-operation between Finland and Saudi Arabia. Commercial ties between our two countries date back 1960’s when Finnish construction and engineering companies started their operations in Saudi-Arabia.

Trade between our countries is growing and Saudi Arabia has become one of the most important export destinations outside Europe for Finnish business. Both sides, Saudi Arabia and Finland, have been active in promoting the economic relations but there are still many unexploited opportunities for intensifying them.

Potential for increasing trade and investment between Finland and Saudi Arabia can be found in several sectors. For example, it can be found in the areas of energy and environmental technology, as mentioned, environmental monitoring, infrastructure and logistics, telecommunication networks, mining and metallurgy, process technology as well as in services related to the aforementioned areas. A wide range of other service industries also create potential for growth.

Due to our geographic location, Finland is often called a gateway between Europe and Asia. This can provide interesting business opportunities. For finding further cooperation possibilities, I warmly welcome Saudi investments to Finland.

The high-level business delegation participating in this visit represents several strong areas of Finnish business expertise and underlines the interest of the Finnish business community in strengthening its co-operation with Saudi Arabian business. I know that the business delegation has been very busy during the past two days in meeting both Saudi officials as well as their counterparts in several occasions. I am confident that these contacts will bear fruit and business representatives on both sides will follow up on several ideas and initiatives launched during this visit.

To conclude, I would like to warmly thank our hosts, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, for their efforts in developing relations between Finland and Saudi Arabia and contributing to the success of this visit. I wish you a productive and enjoyable evening.