Dear President Karis, ministers, ladies and gentlemen, and representatives of the business communities of both – Latvia and Estonia,
I very really glad to join you today.
My state visit began yesterday with a program in Ruhnu Island. I think that I can make an advertisement now for the Latvian representatives of this business forum, that this is really beautiful place and also a perfect spot for vacations in July.
Unfortunately, business continues. And business continues with or without vacations, and regardless of the season.
As President Karis noted, we do live in new realities of both – the European security environment and also the business environment. We must adapt faster than anyone expects. We also have seen that risks on our eastern border have forced us not only to invest more into defence, but also to innovate.
Just a few years ago, few people in this room, or in any other business forum, would have seriously discussed building an ammunition factory in the Baltics, or establishing military drone production, or developing domestic armoured vehicle capabilities. I think that we would all agree that this belongs to larger countries, to larger defence industries. And yet, today, both of our countries, Latvia and Estonia, are finding their niche capabilities in emerging defence technologies, and also in dual-use technologies.
Many of the success stories are actually in this room. Here. Right now. And I think that what we need to discuss is not only how we build separately, but the next step is – how we build those capabilities together.
That means procuring together where our needs overlap. It means doing research and development projects together. It means that Latvian and Estonian companies go into European supply chains as one. And then we must actually go one step further. We should learn to cooperate not only as suppliers of individual components, but actually as creators of complete solutions. And I strongly believe that together we can develop new products, attract new investments, and unlock new opportunities for growth.
I think that today we should not only find new opportunities but also celebrate many achievements of our businesses. Our cooperation is thriving in traditional industries, such as manufacturing, transport, and logistics, while at the same time expanding into ICT, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and other high-value sectors.
Latvia's manufacturing capabilities, and Estonia's digital excellence are not competing with each other. They complement each other. Estonia is Latvia's third-largest trading partner, and that is a reflection of the strengths of our economic friendship.
I am particularly pleased that today's forum will also celebrate excellence through the Livonia Award ceremony. It is a fitting recognition of our mutual success stories.
So finally, I would like to thank all the companies participating today and wish you to build new partnerships. I am confident that this afternoon's business-to-business meetings will strengthen existing cooperations, that those meetings will create new business opportunities, and that those meetings will contribute to an even more resilient and competitive Baltic or, at least, Livonian economy.
Thank you very much!
