Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, Opening Sunday 4 November

Baltic Development Forum Summit

Tallinn, 4 November 2007

Welcome speech at the Estonia Concert Hall

By Mr. Uffe Ellemann-Jensen

Chairman of Baltic Development Forum

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Mr. President, Mayor Savisaar, Foreign Minister Paet, Excellencies, Members & Partners, Ladies & Gentlemen,

It is my great privilege to welcome all of you to the official opening of the 2007 Baltic Development Forum Summit here in the exciting City of Tallinn. It’s a great evening and together with our co-hosts of this important event – the Government of Estonia and the City of Tallinn – we have been looking forward to greeting you all here tonight.

I am pleased to see many new Members & Partners joining our great network devoted to the development of the Baltic Sea Region.

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In the 16 years that have passed since I could visit Tallinn for the first time, this city has acquired a very special place in my heart. This wonderful mixture of past, present and future is unique – and serves as an inspiration for our Baltic Sea Region.

This years summit in Baltic Development Forum is number nine in a string of events that have been pushing eagerly for the vision of our common Region as something very special.

This year our summit has attracted 400 participants and more than 65 dedicated speakers and panellists, representing international organisations, business, government, academia and the media from 15 countries. And one might ask: What is the special attraction of our Region?

Well, our summits in Stockholm and Helsinki, backed up by the State of the Region Report tell at least part of the story. This Region, with its dynamic 11 countries, is an incredibly attractive and economically powerful place, not only in Europe, but world-wide. As a matter of fact, we’re now talking about the risk for overheated economies in some sectors. In many ways, this is good news. Just think back 15 years for a while. Who could have foreseen this dramatic development?

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However, to keep this forward position in the future, we need to pay attention to detail and define concrete action for what needs to be done to continue to develop our knowledge-intensive societies. 

So it is not by chance that we have chosen to build the 2007 Baltic Development Forum Summit around the theme 

“Global challenges, regional solutions – Creating a world-class arena for business and talent on top of Europe”. 

As I see it, there are three areas that matters most when it comes to the future success of this Region, and Europe for that matter.

1. The first one is talent!  One of our primary strength of the Baltic Sea Region is its capacity to innovate. Future success depends on our ability to develop, attract and retain the skills necessary to upgrade our high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries, to take new quantum leaps in technology and services such as Skype, Sony-Ericsson, Nokia, Novo-Nordisk.  

At a time where those of us at the slightly older end of the scale are growing in numbers, and the mobility of the young and rising is increasing, it will be essential that we provide strong and clear incentives to match the growing demand for excellence in skills. We need more intellectual muscle! And we cannot afford only to seek that within our own borders. We need to embrace skilled people from the whole world.

2. The second one is Business!  Our prosperity is ultimately linked to the success and profitability of the businesses located here on Top of Europe. We therefore need a profound understanding of what drives business and why enterprises have chosen to locate in our Region. To position the Baltic Sea Region – and Europe – for the future, it will be essential to engage the business leaders in the competitiveness upgrading debate. 

We have taken a first step in this direction through this year’s State of the Region Report and by addressing this issue here in Tallinn with some of the most senior business leaders operative in the Baltic Sea Region. As a matter of fact, never before have so many business leaders taken part in our Summit, and I am extra pleased to welcome you here today. 

3. The third one is Neighbours!  In the future, European cooperation and integration will be crucial but needs to be complemented by further efforts among neighbours to achieve a higher degree of economic well-being. In parallel to the efforts undertaken under the Lisbon Agenda, stronger integration can be achieved within our smaller regional framework with closer geographic and cultural ties. By making the Region stronger, we make Europe stronger. 

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Tomorrow, the 2007 State of the Region Report will be officially launched. The goal we had when we introduced this Report four years ago was to provide a unique and independent benchmarking tool for competitiveness and innovation in Northern Europe. From the response we’ve got, we understand that the Report has been firmly established as an important instrument used by government, businesses and policy makers when developing new strategies and action plans for increased competitiveness, business or university upgrading etc.   

Reflecting the strong business theme of this year’s Summit, this year’s Report focuses a large part on the Baltic Sea Region as a market. You will all get a personal copy of it and we’re looking forward to discussing it with Dr. Ketels at the launch tomorrow. 

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On Tuesday afternoon, I am looking forward to summing up our discussions on these topics, from which we will craft a number of specific recommendations and action lines. 

And it is important that the result of our discussions doesn’t end with the end of this Summit. We will therefore bring these conclusions forward to national governments, the European Commission and the European Parliament, the labour market parties and confederations of industries, regional Baltic Sea organisations and other important actors for further action.

I encourage you to be visionary, bold and imaginative in your discussions over these coming days. I urge you to take advantage of the informal atmosphere of this Summit to approach the issues discussed with an open mind and commit to concrete action rather than nice words.

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Finally, I warmly thank our co-hosts for housing us here in Tallinn, as well as the Members & Partners of Baltic Development Forum for supporting and contributing to our work. Without you, there would be no Baltic Development Forum.

I particularly want to thank this year’s Summit Partner – Swedbank –  for their commitment to us and close cooperation on a number of activities undertaken to improve the state of this Region.

Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I now have the great pleasure and honour to ask the President of the Republic of Estonia, my dear and respected friend Toomas Hendrik Ilves, to formally open the 2007 Summit. Mister President, you have the floor!