Opening speech by President of the republic Tarja Halonen at the opening of the Finland Festival area on Kehrwiederspitze, 9 May 2008

It is 819 years since Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa granted port privileges to the city of Hamburg. Looking around today, we can observe that the city has made excellent use of these privileges. Today, the Port of Hamburg is the second-largest in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world, and it continues to grow at a rapid pace.

The Port of Hamburg is important for Finland too. A large portion of our foreign trade passes through here. Some comes from or remains in Germany, while other shipments continue further into Europe or, in bigger ships, across the world. Ships from Finland dock here frequently; in fact, Finland is the fourth-largest customer of the Hamburg container port. We are pleased that Finland has been chosen as the partner country for this year’s Hafengeburtstag Hamburg.

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The Hafengeburtstag Festival will be officially opened in a few hours’ time as the parade of ships arrives. Finland will be represented by the Finnish Navy vessel M/S Pohjanmaa, which will be docking here in the harbour and which can be visited.

But before that event, we are anticipating the festival by just a bit in opening this Finland Festival area. Many of Finland’s cities and regions are represented here, and there are also companies such as shipping lines with routes to Finland. There is much to see, to hear and to taste in the Finnland-Festival area. I hope it may inspire many of you to visit Finland itself, which is only a short journey away from Germany.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission stands near this place. Nordic seamen’s churches have become a significant part of the cultural heritage of Hamburg. The Finnish Church has been here in Hamburg for a century, and it is naturally represented here on Kehrwiederspitze too.

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I am pleased that so many of Finland’s regions and companies have chosen to attend the Hamburg Hafengeburtstag Festival. I hope that many festival guests will visit this Finland Festival area over the next few days, and I would like to wish all of you a pleasant and memorable festival.