Estonia and Finland seek ways of responding to economic and global challenges
The Prime Ministers of Finland and Estonia invite organisations involved in the fields of education, R&D and innovation to take efforts with which fortify cooperation. They specifically encourage them to make use of common experiences and interests to undertake joint activities in the future. The Research and Innovation Council of Finland and the Research and Development Council held their third joint meeting co-chaired by the two countries’ Prime Ministers, Mr Jyrki Katainen from Finland and Mr Andrus Ansip from Estonia, in Helsinki on 19 November 2012.
On the basis of the discussions and topics raised in the joint meeting, the Prime Ministers call for follow-up actions by the responsible organisations. These actions will be reviewed by the Councils. Based on the Councils’ discussions and discussions in other forums, proposals for joint action will be dealt with.
Research and innovation is a key policy area for both Finland and Estonia in efforts to improve economic competitiveness in Europe and globally. We are convinced that the Baltic Sea region's success will depend on high value-added, innovative products and services as they contribute to a large part of the success in the global market. Our goal is to continue cooperation, both bilaterally and especially in multilateral forums, such as the EU, the Baltic Sea Region, and the Nordic Community.
Both Estonia and Finland are taking active efforts to respond to economic and global challenges. The countries' main objectives and means are parallel. We are pleased with a very positive development of the collaboration between our scientific communities and economic life. Since the first joint meeting in 2004, cooperation between Finnish and Estonian universities and R&D facilities has been considerably strengthened. An example of this development are the ongoing 158 joint projects within the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research, to be carried out in 2007–2013.
The meeting focused on collaboration opportunities and joint initiatives. The main themes were research infrastructures and growth entrepreneurship, with researcher and expert mobility as an overarching common theme. The funding agencies and research organisations will further explore and utilise opportunities for enhanced cooperation.
For the research infrastructures, the joint European forum is the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), where Finland and Estonia will continue to exchange information on activities of mutual interest. Synergy will be created in an update of the Finnish roadmap for national research infrastructures (2009) with a review of the Estonian research infrastructures roadmap (2010) during 2013. It was agreed that we will seek possibilities for coordinating activities that support policy planning.
In growth entrepreneurship, the aim is to build up the region’s brand as an international hot-spot for innovative high-growth enterprises. Enhanced practical level collaboration could include exchange of experiences and developing the image of a common start-up region and studying the possibilities for enhancing the availability of and access to private venture capital in the context of European venture capital market.
In today's discussions it was also agreed that the Councils will continue to monitor collaboration in research and innovation. The Councils will consider possible initiatives and actions. The issues will also be addressed in the Prime Ministers’ regular meetings as needed. We are convinced that cooperation between Estonian and Finnish research organisations, funding agencies and enterprises are a valuable opportunity that can be supported by the Councils’ cooperation.
Inquiries: Anssi Mälkki, Secretary General of the Research and Innovation Council of Finland, Ministry of Education and Culture, tel. +358 2953 30381, [email protected]