Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at a dinner hosted by the President of Chile on 5 November 2003

Allow me to thank you, Mr President, for the lovely words that you addressed to Finland and to my husband and myself personally. Thank you so much for the friendly reception and hospitality which our entire delegation has enjoyed in your beautiful capital of Santiago de Chile. We feel that we are among real friends here.

Finland and Chile are located about as far apart as they can be. History has created different living conditions for us. Our people have still felt warmth and friendship for each other, however. Your words were again an expression of the ties of friendship that bind Finns and Chileans.

This state visit to Chile has been exceptionally important to me. I have followed your country's development for decades and am happy about your society's rapid development into an established democracy where human rights are respected, economic prosperity is being built and citizens' social and cultural equality is being promoted. Finland and today's Chile are working together for a fairer and better world.

Your personal contribution in Chile's dynamic development in the areas of democracy, the economy and culture has been significant. Your guiding principle throughout has been the desire to achieve national reconciliation. We know from Finland's own history, during the early years of our independence, that reuniting a divided nation is not an easy or speedy process. On the basis of Finnish experience we can appreciate Chile's achievements in recent years.

Good relations between Finland and Chile have a long history. Chile recognized Finland's independence in 1919, diplomatic relations were established in 1931 and the exchange of state visits between our countries has picked up in the past ten years.

There are no political problems between our countries. In the United Nations and other international forums we work together, and we share the same values and objectives. We have followed with great admiration Chile's activities and role in the UN Security Council, where Chile has managed to follow a constructive, cooperative line even in difficult problems.

Finland and Chile are strong supporters of multilateral activity. Multilateralism is especially in the interest of small countries. It is also very important to get large countries to commit to multilateralism, however. The international system should be developed so that it can better meet the needs of today's world. This applies to peace and security, human rights, the environment, equality and a broad range of other issues - including trade.

Governing globalization is a great challenge for nation-states and for the entire international system. In the work of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, which was established by the International Labour Organization, President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and I as co-chairmen have learned that the absolute precondition for governing globalization is cooperation. We hope that our report at the beginning of next year will help achieve a fairer globalization which corresponds to people's needs.

In this connection I would like to say that our cooperation with ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, who is your compatriot, has been splendid and his contribution to this work has been excellent.

The association agreement between the European Union and Chile also opens plenty of new opportunities for the development of bilateral cooperation between Finland and Chile. The process of ratifying the agreement is moving forward in the Finnish Parliament and according to my information it will be completed by the end of this year. I want to assure you that Finland will continue to do its best as a member of the EU to tighten traditional relations between Chile and Latin America as a whole and Europe in all areas of political, economic and cultural life.

I have been accompanied on this visit by a high-level business delegation. Its members represent significant Finnish companies, many of which are known around the world for their high technology and expertise. Their presence is a concrete indication of Finnish companies' strong desire to increase trade between our countries, imports and exports, and to promote the establishment of operations and the transfer of technology. According to figures for the first part of this year, Chile has already passed Brazil as Finland's most important export market in Latin America. We greatly appreciate the way in which you, Mr President, and many members of your Government have participated personally in our business delegation's programme here in Santiago. I also thank the representatives of the Chilean business sector for their active interest in expanding our commercial and economic relations.

After the tragic events of 1973, broad solidarity activity for the people of Chile began in Finland. Over this years this has led to lively and multifaceted friendship activities between our countries.

In the field of culture we can record magnificent achievements in recent cooperation between our countries. I know how well the Savonlinna Opera's visit was received in Santiago de Chile last May. The Teatro Municipal's splendid performance at the Savonlinna Opera Festival this July and August was a great artistic victory, a real success, as I was able to experience personally. The Pablo Neruda seminar which was arranged in this connection reminded us once again of the great traditions of Chilean literature. I have been pleased to hear that this cooperation in the opera field, which has got off to such a good start, will continue and that joint projects are already being planned.

Latin America has been selected as a special focus in Finland's cultural exports in 2004. I believe that this offers opportunities to present Finnish music, art and literature more extensively in Chile as well. Correspondingly we welcome Chilean cultural events to Finland. We can also hope that exchanges of students and researchers between universities and other institutions will continue to increase.

We have been received here in Chile with great warmth and friendship. We appreciate this very much. It is a pleasure to be here in Chile again and it is a special honour to be here as your guest.

I would like to propose a toast to the happiness and success of the Chilean nation and President and Mrs Lagos and to Finnish-Chilean cooperation and friendship.