Presentation by President Tarja Halonen at the Ewha Womans University in Seoul on 9.4.2002

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Finland and the Republic of Korea are relatively small countries and located geographically far from each other. Finland has a land area over three times bigger than that of the Republic of Korea, but not much more than a tenth of your population. Our customs and traditions differ in several ways, but there are several interesting curiosities that connect us. These include the fact that a Finnish Professor, Gustaf John Ramstedt, published the first Korean grammar book in a Western language in 1939 and that our countries are almost connected by a direct railroad link - only 14 kilometres of track is missing inside North Korea. But more importantly our histories have many points of similarity.

Both of us have learned to live as neighbours of large countries. From time to time we have had to face pressures and wars, but we have also been able to take advantage of our opportunities. Both of our countries have become developed industrial societies thanks to the skill and diligence of our peoples, without significant natural resources.

In today's world, countries are expected to be democratic and to respect human rights and the rule of law. These are actually basic ingredients of a healthy society. We in Finland have a long tradition of observing these principles, and it is on their basis that we are continuing to build our society today. An important part of this tradition has been the role of women in public life in Finland. They won full political rights as early as 1906, before we gained independence and the first in the world.

It took a long time for Finland to join the ranks of the world's independent nations. For over 600 years we were a part of our western neighbour Sweden. After that, it still took over a century of work as an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire before independence finally dawned in 1917. The period that followed was by no means painless; a civil war erupted in Finland right in the beginning of 1918. Although it lasted only a few months, it left very bitter memories.

During the Second World War we had to wage two separate armed conflicts against the Soviet Union. In addition to considerable loss of human life, we had to surrender over 10 per cent of our territory and resettle 11 per cent of our population. Nevertheless, we have not been especially unfortunate, because many European countries had to experience worse. Despite everything, we retained our independence and escaped occupation. Today we can proudly point to the fact that Finland is the only Continental European country that both fought in the Second World War and has remained democratic without interruption since the First World War.

The world looks more favourable to us today. Finland is considered to be one of the most competitive countries in the world. Last October, the World Economic Forum ranked Finland first in terms of both competitiveness and economic growth expectations. We have also been named the world's least-corrupt country two years running. In addition to that, we were recently named as the country that takes the demands of environmental protection into consideration better than any other.

There are many reasons for our success. The foundation of our society lies on our strong tradition of democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law. The Nordic welfare society model that we have embraced has given us a solid base on which to build competitiveness. It creates social stability and makes it possible to develop and use people's talents in a well-rounded way. Finnish society guarantees all citizens high quality health care, comprehensive social security and - naturally - education. These ingredients provide general security.

It is precisely our high standard of education that has been seen as one of the keys to our success. An OECD survey showed that our 15-year-olds have the best reading and writing skills in the world. We have tried to ensure that all citizens, irrespective of income, have equal access to education. We also have a strong historical tradition of educating both girls and boys.

We have been putting a lot of effort into harnessing new technology. The Government has been increasing the funds earmarked for research and development, and the percentage of gross domestic product that we now spend on this is the second highest in the world. A large part of this funding comes from companies themselves.

There is widespread support for combining "hard" and "soft" goals. We are exploiting the dynamics of a free market economy to ensure strong economic growth, but also using social measures to guarantee people equality and prosperity. This combination has meant a broad national consensus on the development that we should strive for.

Not a single country can make it alone. We share one world and we all need each other. We need co-operation between neighbours, regionally, between regions and globally. The need for co-operation is well recognised in Europe and in Asia and there are several co-operative organisations in both continents.

Finland has played an active role in international political and economic co-operation with our neighbours, in Europe and globally.

We took our most significant step of integration in 1995, when we joined the European Union. Our motives were a wish to increase our citizens' prosperity and security, recognition that we needed to ensure an equal opportunity for our business sector to compete in our most important markets, and a desire to play a part together with the other European Union countries in deciding the future of our continent. We knew that decisions made within the EU would affect us irrespective of whether or not we were members.

Enlargement is the European Union's most important goal at the moment. Negotiations are currently in progress with 12 candidates. The EU will be ready to admit new members at the beginning of 2004, if the negotiations are concluded as planned. In addition to enlarging, the European Union is now discussing its own future development in order to remain effective also after the enlargement.

Membership of the EU has added new dimensions to Finland's involvement in external relations. The Union is a central actor and treaty partner in various parts of the world. This is how also Finland has become an active participant in processes that link European Union and Asian countries.

We have a lot of shared economic interests. The EU is a significant player in world trade and the biggest foreign investor in the Republic of Korea. It is also Korea's third-biggest trade partner after the United States and Japan.

The EU's role in political issues in the region has grown. The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) brings European and Asian leaders together every other year. I personally had the pleasure to attend the ASEM summit here in Seoul a year and a half ago. In addition, the EU has regular channels for discussions with all of the leading Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea.

The EU has also made efforts to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula and especially to remove the threat of weapons of mass destruction. The Union is involved in the work of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). The purpose of KEDO is to replace North Korea's old plutonium-producing power plants with new reactors, which comply with international nuclear regulations and cannot be used to make weapons-grade material. Finland has been a member of KEDO since 1995.

The EU has promised to act as a facilitator in the development of relations between the two Koreas. This does not mean that the EU wishes to be a party to possible peace talks, only that we are trying to smooth the way for a development that would lead to a normalisation of relations. For this purpose, EU representatives visited both Seoul and Pyongyang nearly a year ago. Our opening drew much praise both on the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere in the world, but it has not yet led to the result we were hoping for, progress in the Korean peace process.

Europe and Asia are important, but when we discuss international relations and affairs today, we cannot escape mentioning globalisation, which is a growing and pervasive reality. Remarkable technological developments, particularly in communications and information, are transforming production, consumption and investment worldwide. These unprecedented changes affect economic structures, social attitudes and the nature of work and enterprise. Globalisation has much potential for widening opportunities, increasing prosperity and promoting development. Increasing numbers of countries have taken advantage of the expanding global market to generate rising living standards. For them, globalisation has been a resource, an instrument for progress. Finland and the Republic of Korea are undeniably among the countries, which have benefited from globalisation.

Yet alongside advancing integration of economies there are widening gaps. Many countries and people feel that they are excluded from the benefits of globalisation. Gaps exist both between and within countries. Even in Finland and the Republic of Korea there are people who feel that they have no say in the decisions that determine the pattern of globalisation.

We need a consensus on ways to make globalisation more humane. In order to be acceptable a consensus like that must embrace issues of concern to people in their daily lives, like employment and rights at work, poverty, economic development and social justice. It must be based on common values to underpin sustainable policies for open societies and economies. This would create a sense of shared purpose, which alone can enable countries and institutions to withstand exceptional pressures for social change without violence.

In response to an obvious need, the International Labour Organisation has set up a World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, which I have the honour to co-chair along with President Benjamin William Mkapa of Tanzania. Our task in a little more than a year is to examine the social dimension of globalisation and make proposals as to how as many individuals, peoples and countries as possible will be enabled to share in its benefits, whilst at the same time ensuring that its drawbacks affect as few as possible.

For achievement of this goal we need co-operation between nation states, regional and global international organisations. This sense of co-operation and commitment has been evident in the Millennium Summit and in the Doha and Monterrey Declarations. Now we much carry the torch further on to the Johannesburg summit on Sustainable Development in September. It is vital that the United Nations has the leading role in harnessing globalisation to benefit all of humankind and the environment.

One very positive factor in Finland's success has been our promotion of gender equality. More than half of our students in higher education are women. The contribution that women are making in the labour force is of decisive importance for our country's economic growth and prosperity. Naturally, this has required work to be reconciled with family life. Maternity leave and paternity leave matter a lot to parents with small children. Child-care leave, kindergartens and the warm meals that are served free-of-charge in schools are only some examples of how this thinking manifests itself. Most of these benefits are nowadays provided by the public authorities, although many of them were originally introduced on the basis of collective agreements between employers and employees.

Our women's lively participation in political life - for example, they hold 37.5 per cent of the seats in our parliament - has done much to highlight family policy. Nevertheless, I would dare to say that nowadays both men and women in my country regard it as perfectly natural for women to play a full role in working life. That said, there is still a lot to be done as regards gender equality also in Finland.

We consider gender equality such an important matter that we are also trying to promote it internationally. Both it and a more equitable distribution of income are key elements in reducing poverty, which is a central goal in our policy on development co-operation.

We Finns know - from our own experience - that a greater participation by women in the labour force and political decision making has not been to the detriment of men; on the contrary, it has benefited them. This certainly applies also on the global level. Over the long term, it is in the interests of the world's wealthy minority that women and men in developing countries would have a full opportunity to play a role in the global economy as producers and consumers. They should also be able to take part in political decision making as citizens of the world, enjoying equal access to income, social security and welfare services.

I thank the Ewha Womans University for the honorary degree that has been conferred on me. I regard such a tribute from the world's largest institution of its kind as an honour not only to me personally but to all of the women and men of Finland.

I want to extend my admiration for the work of the university and I want to wish success and the best of luck to the students and the staff.