President Lennart Meri offered lunch to the Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry today. Also Clyde Kull, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who has been appointed the Ambassador of Estonia to he World Trade Organisation, was invited. At lunch, the Young Family Home project, as well as the Eastern Viru County, Estonia's export prospects and the possible emission of Estonian treasury bonds were discussed.

As the President said, private sector has a significant role in the development of the Eastern Viru County (Northeast Estonia), as the state can not manage alone. Especially in the Eastern Viru County, young people need jobs and enterprises need reliable and qualified staff. Toomas Luman, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, mentioned the problem of forthcoming decrease of employment in the Eastern Viru County, where one tenth of the miners, or nearly 800 people are in the age of retirement, whereas the miners in many cases are the sole breadwinners of the family -- this should be kept in mind when introducing changes. Yet neither ''Eesti Energia'' nor ''Eesti Põlevkivi'' can solve social problems. In order to organise the life in the Eastern Viru County, Toomas Luman said, also the national energy strategy, which would determine the extent of self-supplied energy, is necessary.

As the President said, the increase of export capacity is important, considering Estonia's small market. Endel Siff, the manager of ''N-Terminal'', emphasised the need to invest in software production and education, especially basic education, in order to increase export capacity. According to the Estonian enterprisers, the Czech Republic and Poland would be suitable export markets to Estonia by their geographical position, purchasing power and size. In case of free trade agreements, also the possibilities to fulfil the agreement are important. The President also invited the businessmen to join him on his state visit to the Czech Republic in spring 2000.

The President inquired whether the businessmen would be interested in treasury bonds directed to the internal market, which would be a reliable investment for many funds and foundations, as well as private individuals, also, the profit from emission would help to overcome the current difficulties. The businessmen agreed that there has been interest in the Estonian treasury bonds also abroad, but before their emission it would be necessary to guarantee that the resources would be used efficiently.
On the meeting, the need for coherence in both state administration and communication with business administrations was emphasised in connection with export subsidies, attraction of investments and discussion of foreign economic policies.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, November 23, 1999

back | archive of press releases | main page