Keynote speech by the President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at the Finland–Indonesia Business Forum on 18th February 2008 in Jakarta

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

Finland and Indonesia have good relations with each other. However, I think we need to work together to further intensify them in all fronts, not least on the economic side where I have with pleasure noticed increased interest recently.

I would like to share our views, reflecting on Finnish experiences, on some of the challenges that face us in the globalising economy. 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 leadership from all players to finalize the WTO trade negotiations. Only a multilateral trade agreement can provide for a universal, rules-based, open and non-discriminatory trading system. We hope the emerging economies of Asia to have a constructive role in the negotiations, setting a benchmark for others.

Conclusion of the Doha Round would really make a difference, especially taking into account the current uncertainties in the global economy. That would facilitate trade, create wealth and offer all countries better opportunities to benefit from global economic growth and to take a step towards fair globalization.

As a free trader, Finland also strongly supports rapid conclusion of regional and bilateral trade agreements between parties who are willing to go considerably deeper with a wider agenda. Indonesia is a major economy in the region with enormous trading potential and we hope you would be among the first ones to really engage in free trade negotiations with the European Union.

Finland used to be one of the poorest countries in Europe 100 years ago, up in cold North. Today Finland is close to the top in many international rankings - for example in competitiveness, environmental sustainability, technology and innovation as well as in education and good governance. Finland has become known as the world’s least corrupt country, praised for the openness and transparency of its well functioning administration.

We have reached this by combining a well functioning democracy and an open and dynamic market economy. Democracy encourages people to take responsibility for their own life and for the development of the whole society. This increases stability and trust in the society. I think that this is one key factor in our ability to take advantage of the opportunities offered by globalization.

One other key success factor in Finland’s societal policy has been our focus on education, science and research. These targets have traditionally been widely appreciated in our society and have become ever more significant in global competition.

Our education system is based on the principle of providing equal learning opportunities for everyone – boys and girls - through free basic and higher education. The importance of investing in people and of developing a strong skills base through life long learning is essential in adapting to changes and to support future economic growth. Investing in people is truly a worthwhile investment.

Modern infrastructure, diversified energy production, highly developed logistical system, macro-economic balance, political stability and well functioning labour relations have played a significant role for our competitiveness. 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.

Regional integration within 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.

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.

Indonesia and Finland share similar experiences from the 1990’s when Finland had the most severe recession ever recorded in an industrial economy and Indonesia suffered from the Asian financial crisis. We have both come a long way since then. The process we have went through underlines the importance of efficiency in implementing necessary reforms.

We can’t ignore environmental sustainability and climate change when we discuss global challenges. There are no national or even regional answers to these but we need global solutions. Indonesia organised the most important international meeting on climate change in last ten years in Bali on the future of the Kyoto protocol. I am also confident that Indonesia continues to have a leading role among emerging economies in future discussions.

Our joint actions include promotion of technology transfer 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 clean technologies, an issue which I’m sure will be further elaborated in this Forum.

This leads me to the subject of enhanced bilateral relations. Finnish business has recognised the potential of Indonesia as the largest economy in South-East Asia with vast natural resources and worlds 4th largest population. The economic growth and reform policies in Indonesia have contributed to the interest of Finnish companies towards the Indonesian market.

As business communities are important driving forces in enhancing the economic cooperation between our countries, it is a pleasure to see both sides showing such laudable interest in promoting this relationship.

To conclude, I would like to warmly thank our hosts for their efforts in developing relations between Finland and Indonesia and contributing to the success of this visit. In a rapidly changing and more and more intertwined global economy it is all the more important to use every opportunity to bring together potential business partners. I wish you a productive and enjoyable evening.