Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
dear Compatriots,

I have met so far PM Hashimoto, FM Ikeda, Minister of International Trade and Industry Mr. Sato, president Nishimura of the Industrial Bank of Japan, and the Osaka business community during a seminar organized by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce. Tomorrow I will have the honour of being received by His Imperial Majesty. I would like to make a brief summary of those meetings at this unique occasion, when Estonia opened at 5 p.m. her first embassy in Japan. More than that, her first embassy in Asia.

Like Japan, Estonia is a country on the edge of an immense continent - on the opposite edge.

By virtue of the Japanese and Estonian peoples, both nations have achieved an economic miracle.

That is the strongest foundation for our future co-operation: we have a common experience from the past which we will use in the interest of the future. In this sense, Estonia and Japan are far nearer to each other than countries with a much smaller time zone difference.

There is another reason for a feeling of closeness and common road: as Japan, Estonia does not belong to the family of Indo-European languages. We have been able to keep our own language and stick to our traditions. This, in contrast to the view of some scholars, has not led to a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash. Clashes are created by the lack of civilization, which in my view is a lack of understanding and respect towards other civilizations.

Estonia's door to Asia is Japan.

Today we are offering Japan a new door to Europe - Estonia.

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