Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at a banquet during the State Visit of the Emir of Qatar on 10.6.2002

I wish you and your retinue a hearty welcome to Finland. This is the time when our early summer is at its best, with nature awakening and bursting into bloom after the long winter.

Finland and Qatar are a long way from each other in the geographical sense, but this has not prevented warm relations from developing between our countries and continuing to deepen, especially in recent years. A real breakthrough came in 1998. In the spring of that year, the Foreign Minister of Qatar visited Finland and soon after that we Finns had the opportunity to acquaint ourselves with Qatari culture here in Helsinki. In November 1998 I personally visited Qatar in my then capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

I have very pleasant memories of my visit to Qatar. The kindness and hospitality of my hosts have remained forever in my mind. My discussions both with Your Highness and with the Foreign Minister were interesting and rewarding. One of the pleasant details of my visit that I remember especially well was a walking trip along Doha's magnificent seaside boulevard, the Corniche, on a warm November evening.

As a concrete expression of the development of relations between Finland and Qatar, let me mention three agreements that we have signed. They concern air traffic, the promotion and protection of investments as well as - the one we signed today - economic, commercial and technical cooperation between our countries. We have today also agreed to begin, as soon as possible, negotiations for an agreement to avoid double taxation.

With a foundation of agreements between our countries in place, we have created a good framework within which to develop our economic relations. So far, our economic cooperation has been modest and our import and export statistics show figures that are far too small. I am convinced that there is potential to expand our economic cooperation. Qatar's economy is growing at an enormous pace thanks to your vast natural resources, but also your government's economic policy. A few Finnish companies have already become very well-known in Qatar. I believe that there is room also for new entrepreneurs in your country.

Cultural relations between Finland and Qatar were given a powerful boost when nearly a hundred Qatari artists were able to present themselves to the Finns four years ago. Our Qatar Cultural Week brought your country to the awareness of the Finns in a completely new way. Alongside the modern Qatar, you have been able to preserve many of your traditions. Now it is our turn to present Finnish culture in Qatar. I hope there will be an opportunity to do that at next year's Qatar Cultural Festival.

Doha was the focus of great attention last autumn, when the 4th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation took place in the city. I would like to congratulate our Qatari friends for their excellent conference arrangements, of which we have heard nothing but praise. The Doha development round, which aims at fair further liberalisation of trade is important to all of us.

We in Finland greet Qatar's progress towards representative democracy. The fact that also your women have political rights delights us.

In recent years, the European Union has had links with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. These ties were strengthened while Finland held the EU Presidency in autumn 1999. I am pleased that Qatar has adopted an active role in the Presidency of the OIC and links with the European Union have become even closer.

The peoples of the Middle East have long experience of interaction with representatives of different cultures. We all need more knowledge of each other.

Since Finnish professor George August Wallin conducted between 1843 and 1849 expeditions in Egypt, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Persia, there has been longstanding interest in Finland in the Islam and Arabic culture.

Finland wants to play her part in a dialogue between cultures, and this visit provides an ideal opportunity to do so on the political level. I would like to commend also the excellent academic work in the field of dialogue between cultures which is done in Finnish universities.

Your visit is an expression of Qatar's desire to strengthen and develop relations between our countries. We attach great importance to it.

I propose a toast to Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and to the happiness and success of the people of Qatar.