Keynote speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the Business Seminar “Energy, Environment and Innovations - New Opportunities for Business” in Luxembourg on 25 November 2008

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I am facing a difficult challenge. A Finnish tradition demands to be modest. So, how can I convince you that we really could be a very good partner to you?

Finland has been successful in different international comparisons of competitiveness, education, research and technology. These four are very much interlinked: good education and training, knowledge and know-how are the foundation on which our country’s competitiveness rests.

Our starting point has been that welfare of people and competitiveness are not mutually exclusive. I firmly believe in the so-called Nordic welfare state model. It combines the dynamism of the market economy with strong sense of responsibility and social justice.

In Finland, there is a long tradition for education. We have had to draw on all available resources, in particular on human resources, to prosper and create welfare.

Our efforts have borne fruit. An illustration of this is our youngsters’ success in the OECD PISA surveys, which measure the learning performance of 15-year-old students. There have been three PISA studies focusing each time on different skills – reading, mathematics and science – and each time the Finnish pupils were the best or among the very best.

One fundamental factor is our nine-year comprehensive school, which gathers together the whole age group, girls and boys equally, and provides basic education free of charge to everyone. It is worth noting that schools are of high level and that the differences between schools across the country are among the smallest in the world. Teachers – including at the pre-schools – have a university degree. The teaching profession is greatly valued – but pay disputes are familiar to us, too.

For the future, we in Finland need to promote more lifelong learning and help people to keep up the joy of learning throughout life. We still have a lot of challenges in education and training of adults. Education and training increase people’s capacity for self-determination and to make their own choices in life. In working life, good education and training has traditionally provided a quite solid "insurance policy" against unemployment.

For a long time, we have persistently developed our innovation system. For us, it has been clear that we need to create new sectors of economic activity with the help of science and technology. In terms of GDP, the share of research and development reached 3.47% last year, the second highest in Europe.

We need to look into means that will ensure that Finland will continue to manage in the increasing global competition – also at the times of economic difficulties. We have now launched ambitious reforms of the innovation system and higher education in our country. It is important to encourage and support all sorts of creativity from the arts to technologies. In order to exploit the real benefits of research, we have to be far-sighted and to invest in a sustained manner in education, science and technological development.

The Finnish innovation system is based on a close cooperation between various actors – both public and private. This includes high-level research institutions and university networks; companies aiming at growth and willing to explore new avenues of business; and possibilities for funding from diverse public and private sources. The rise of Nokia as one of the leading global companies is a good example of this cooperation.

In a globalized world, everyone needs good partners. We, too, want to further increase our international contacts and cooperation. I am glad that a number of Finnish companies have decided to join this state visit to Luxembourg and are willing to look at the possibilities for business cooperation.

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Climate change is currently one of the biggest challenges for sustainable development worldwide. We must reach the common goal of a new comprehensive global climate regime. The Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen will be held in one year time, in December 2009. We must not loose time in our preparations.

Finland strongly believes that working together will benefit us all. Every nation can do their share. But it is really important that all the major economies contribute effectively in the global efforts to mitigate the climate change.

Furthermore, we have to take the gender aspect into account in our work. Climate change will most seriously hit the poorest people – and 70 percent of the poor are women. By helping women to survive in their everyday lives, we promote the overall goals of development.

Several international studies have shown that competitiveness and environmentally sound performance are closely interlinked. So far, Finland has been near the top of the lists of the most competitive economies in the world and has also done well in international comparisons on environmental performance.

More concretely, by investing in cleaner technology, we can increase opportunities to meet the future obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies are key sectors in this respect.

Finland is a forerunner of combined heat and power production. For decades, our pulp and paper industries have promoted new technologies both for generating energy for industries and for comprehensive heating networks in urban areas. In our northern and cold climate, the result has been considerable energy savings. Currently, one third of our electricity is produced by combined heat and power production, which is based on domestic biomass. Finnish biomass boiler technology is also sold worldwide.

In Europe, buildings account for as much as forty percent of energy consumption. Therefore, the choices which we make now will have long-term effects. Both Luxembourg and Finland have recently decided to aim at higher energy efficiency in buildings. This provides new options for forward looking businesses, too.

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The current developments in the financial markets and in the world economy will have implications for all of us. We can and will overcome the present crisis. For that, we must take concrete action and in particular cooperate more closely with each other.
The industrialized countries must show solidarity towards the developing countries. We must work in favour of a fairer globalization and ensure that the gap between the poor and rich countries will not widen even further. The Doha Review Conference on Financing for Development – which will take place next weekend – is an important event in this respect. After all, the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals are our joint pledge to create a better future for us all.

In addition, we must not lower down our level of ambition in tackling the climate change due to the current economic slowdown. We have to honour our commitments and maintain our emission targets also for the sake of future generations and for their economic prosperity and welfare.

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I hope that you will have a fruitful and informative exchange of views during this morning and that you will form new contacts and future partnerships.