Today afternoon, President Meri paid a visit to the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry where the Chairman of the Board of the Chamber Toomas Luman gave the President the first class order of merit of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the development of a favourable investment environment in Estonia and for introducing Estonia in the world.

The granting of the order was followed by the traditional dinner offered by the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the President every spring. During the dinner the entrepreneurs and the head of state discussed the enterprising environment of Estonia and the possibilities of influencing this environment within the framework of both written and unwritten laws. The Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Toomas Luman said that the entrepreneurs of Estonia have decided to communicate more with the
politicians of Estonia so that the politicians would be aware of the situation of Estonian economy, because a state can not function when separated from its economy.

President Meri expressed his gratitude for the golden order with a chain granted to him and told the entrepreneurs that there are entrepreneurs in Estonia who think about getting rich right away and then there are others who think about providing a good life for their grandchildren, and that he prefers the ones who see the prospects. The entrepreneurs said that the politicians in Estonia should also think more about these things.

The people present at the dinner also discussed how well is Estonia known in the world. President Meri said that it would be in the interests of the entrepreneurs and also the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to create an encyclopaedia in English that would introduce Estonia. The Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry promised to discuss the publication of such an encyclopaedia in the near future.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, May 11, 1999

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