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Co-operationCo-operation between Estonia and Finland in defence matters is regular and active. Close co-operation has taken place in the field of defence education and military training, as well as in connection with procurements and arms control. In the first half of the year 2008, Estonia and Finland (together with Sweden, Norway and Ireland) participated in the European Union’s Nordic Battle Group. Since August 2008, the Military Attaché of the Republic of Estonia in Finland and Sweden is Peeter Läns, Lieutenant Colonel, residing in Helsinki. Since July 2007, the Military Attaché of the Republic of Finland in Estonia is Erkki Pekonen, Lieutenant Colonel. Good, direct relations have been established between institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministries of the Interior and Justice. Co-operation in the prevention of crime is of considerable importance to the police, border guards and customs services. The working group for fighting drug-related crimes, FINESTO, has been very successful, the operations of which have detected many illegal drug activities. The FINESTO mandate was recently expanded to include white collar crime. Finnish Ministry of Internal Affairs official Ari Lahtela is working as police expert in the Finnish Embassy in Tallinn. Also, of great importance is co-operation in the realm of justice, in which the principal areas of co-operation are among others international legal assistance, criminal policy, the application of EU law, issues related to prisons, crime prevention and probation supervision. Since January 2009, Sirpa Väätäinen serves as the Liaison Prosecutor of the Republic of Finland in Tallinn. Since 2004, the four-part meetings of justice and internal affairs ministers have been arranged regularly. The two countries have also developed extensive co-operation in environmental matters, where special attention is paid to ensuring the safety of the Baltic Sea environment. Estonia and Finland along with several other Baltic Sea States have made great efforts in having the Baltic Sea recognised as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA). In 2004, the trilateral (Estonia-Finland-Russia) Gulf of Finland ship Reporting System GOFREP was taken into use. Estonia and Finland have developed their close co-operation further through participation in different international organisations, which have supplemented their close bilateral relations. Significant agreementsTreaties between the two countries have been developed extensively. As of 1 May 2004, the economic relations are governed by the regulations of the EU’s internal market. Among others the following agreements are in force between Estonia and Finland:
Economic relationsTRADE*Pre and post 1 May 2004 data are incomparable. After accession to the EU, the import is calculated on the basis of the sending country, earlier this was based on the country of origin. Finland is perennially Estonia's largest trade partner. In 2008, total trade with Finland equalled 3.1 billion EUR, of which 50.1% or 1.55 billion EUR was exports and 49.9% or 1.54 billion EUR was imports. Finland’s share in Estonia’s foreign trade was 16.0%. Major export articles in 2008:
Major import articles in 2008:
All economic figures originate from the Statistical Office of Estonia INVESTMENTSAs of September 30th 2008, direct investments made to Estonia by Finnish investors amounted to 2.9 billion euros, i.e., 24.7% of all foreign investments to Estonia. The largest investments of Finnish companies are associated with the sectors of commerce, industry, telecommunications, building and real estate, and financial intermediation. As at September 30th 2008, direct investments made from Estonia to Finland amounted to 223 million euros. FINNISH-ESTONIAN TRADE ASSOTIATIONThe Finnish-Estonian Trade Association (SEKY), established in 1990, comprises Finnish enterprises active in Estonia and enterprises potentially interested in Estonia. There are 170 members. FINNISH-ESTONIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCEThe Finnish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce (FECC, www.fecc.ee) unites Finnish entrepreneurs operating in Estonia; the organisation has approx. 120 members and its objective is to mediate business contacts and provide the members with information about Estonian economy. TOURISMFinland is Estonia's most important tourism target market. In 2008, of all foreign tourists who used accommodation services in Estonia, 50.8 % (728,181) were from Finland (growth per year 2.9%). In 2008, the number of overnight stays of Finnish tourists amounted to 1.42 million, i.e., 48.3% of all overnight stays of foreign tourists. The importance of Finland to Estonia as a tourism target market becomes apparent from the fact that the money spent by Finnish tourists in Estonia in 2007 was comparable to the entire share of Estonia’s agricultural production in the GNP (i.e., approx. 4 %). The Enterprise Estonia regularly participates in the Helsinki tourist fair Matka. In May 2002, the Helsinki office of the Enterprise Estonia was opened to deal primarily with tourism-related matters along with investment and export promotion. The Enterprise Estonia representative in Finland is Toomas Tärk. Cultural and educational relationsCultural relations between Estonia and Finland are traditionally close. On December 1st 2007, the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of Estonian-Finnish Mental Co-operation Convention was celebrated. In connection with this, a seminar took place in Helsinki on November 9th 2007, with participation by the Ministers of Culture of both countries. On November 22nd 2007, a similar festive seminar was held in Tallinn; the speakers included President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Paavo Lipponen. Tallinn and Turku have been chosen as the European Capitals of Culture in 2011. The Mayors of Tallinn and Turku concluded a Memorandum of Co-operation establishing the principles of co-operation between the two cities. From March 8th to March 9th 2009, a large-scale information event Welcome to Estonia took place at the Senate Square (Senatintori) in Helsinki. The event was opened by Juhan Parts, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications of the Republic of Estonia, and Jussi Pajunen, Mayor of Helsinki. The event included comprehensive tourism-related exhibitions and a cultural programme. From November 22nd to November 23rd, the annual event Mardilaat (St. Martin’s Day Fair) took place in Helsinki for the 25th time; over the years, it has grown into one of the largest events promoting Estonia in Finland. Over 14,000 visitors attended the fair, including Tarja Halonen, President of Finland. On February 18th 2006, the new building of the Art Museum of Estonia (KUMU) designed by Finnish architect Pekka Vapaavuori was opened. The R&D-related co-operation between institutes of higher education and scientific research establishments is increasing gradually. The second joint session of the Estonian Science and Development Council and the Finnish Science and Technology Development Council took place on 15 April 2008 in Tallinn (the first occurred on 26 May 2004 in Helsinki). The main focus of the session was on opportunities for Estonia-Finland co-operation and discussing joint initiatives for advancing science and technology. The session was led by the prime ministers of the two nations, who expressed the conviction that the success of the entire Baltic Sea region in the global economy in the future depends on development of knowledge-based products and services. For this reason, co-operation is very important for both nations. At the meeting, the universities, research institutions, financing organisations and businesses of both countries were called upon to utilise their potential by increasing their co-operation. The nations were also encouraged to increase co-operation between their science and development councils and co-ordinate policy development in the countries so that they support a common competitiveness level. A concrete initiative was brought up by the council members to jointly develop and plan a science and development infrastructure, to co-operate in the field of scientific data processing, and to exchange experiences between companies that finance science and development. Estonia and Finland are also planning a joint science doctorate programme and joint investments for the procuring of research equipment. Other topics discussed at the session were matters related to the new Estonia-Finland co-operation report, and the decision to have joint session of the science and development councils regularly, either every year of every other year. As regards co-operation in the field of education, arrangement of the possibilities for acquisition of basic education in Estonian in Finland and for acquisition of education in Finnish in Estonia is considered important. In Helsinki, two schools offer instruction in Estonian, while in Estonia the Tallinn Finnish School and Tartu Catholic School offer instruction in Finnish. An important milestone of the education-related co-operation was the establishment of professorship of Finnish language and cultural studies at the University of Tartu in September 2006. Since 1993, Estonian and Finnish Ministries of Education have co-operated in the field of youth work.
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