Embassy of Finland

Embassy of Finland Jakarta

The Finnish National Day Supplement in the Jakarta Post, December 12, 2002

Message from the Ambassador of Finland:

Dear readers,

The Independence Day of Finland is every year the 6th of December. This time it coincided precisely with the date of Idul Fitri in Indonesia and the Islamic world overall. For this reason we decided to defer our celebrations in Indonesia until today, the 12th of December. I hope this is convenient for all our nationals and friends.

I should have wanted to greet you this year in a more optimistic and cheerful mood. I cannot honestly do just that. Any greetings at the end of this year are bound to reflect the reality: sorrow and grief over the events of the recent past, but at the same time faith and confidence in a better future. We must find new strength to face the challenges ahead of us, all the doubts and frustrations notwithstanding. I have been encouraged to note that such a spirit exists in Indonesia, and I remain convinced that it will prevail in the coming years, despite all the hardships in sight. The terrorist attack in Bali was an attack against Indonesia and against the international community. It cannot be condoned under any pretext. Facing unpleasant facts is never a nice and easy experience, and in this case the Indonesian society has to do just that. The revelation of evil in our midst creates an uneasy feeling. "We did not know" has been a popular way of dealing with shocking revelations throughout human history, but not terribly credible or true. The Indonesian authorities deserve our congratulations for the effective and skilful investigations of the incident. Hopefully all its ramifications will be searched with the same fervour and energy.

As a member of the European Union and as an active participant in the international donor community Finland has continued to support Indonesia also this year, and we intend to do so also in the future. The focus of our support has been twofold: programmes promoting good governance and support to the building of civil society, i.e. support to NGO's. Building, developing and defending democracy is not always easy, and the rewards for courage and honesty may not be immediately discernible in the polls for next elections. But it is worth the effort. I hope that this message can be brought to the Indonesian people all over this large and beautiful country. If the international donor community can help to achieve this, I am sure we would all be happy to be part of the effort.

The Finnish-Indonesian relations have in the past focused heavily on forestry. We have an active working group in our mixed economic commission, and also rather regular meetings at the ministerial level. One of our leading forestry companies has made a sizeable plantation investment in West-Kalimantan. During the 90's, when the bulk of the Indonesian pulp and paper industry was built or modernized, the machinery and know-how came largely from Finland. Consequently the service and maintenance activities in this sector bring a constant flow of Finnish experts to Indonesia also today. This sectoral cooperation will certainly continue also in the future, its emphasis probably shifting more towards environmental protection and conservation, not forgetting that best technology is most often also the best friend of the environment. Finland has the world's most effective forestry industry and the cleanest environment, so we know.

Today probably everybody in Indonesia knows Nokia. Quite a few seem to know also that Nokia is originally from Finland, and still has its head office there. Nokia is a prime example of the new wave of Finnish industry and economy: truly international and multilateral, but preserving the best of the Finnish society also in its overseas operations. Nokia has gained market shares and reputation, but also a very interesting and important note from our notoriously critical NGO's: a perfectly clean record on human rights and social conditions in the overseas operations. The same could be said of other Finnish companies active in Indonesia. This is also a part of coming from Finland.

The last couple of years Finland has come to the very top in two interesting international listings: we have been the world's most competitive nation last year and number two (after only the US) this year, and we have been consistently the least corrupt country in the world both of these years. There seems to be a strong negative correlation between competitivity and corruption, and we are of course happy to serve as an example of that. Over the years we have also learned that the investment climate is affected by the same factors, and that it takes time and effort to improve it. Foreign direct investment tends to come with a certain delay, when the other conditions have been met. I may of course be tempted to exaggerate this factor, simply because we Finns had a couple of other delaying problems to cope with: a harsh climate, a less than fertile ground, long distances and lack of natural resources. But we have made it so far, and we are looking forward to an even better future.

Finland has now been a member of the European Union for seven years. We also joined the economic and monetary union (EMU) from the very beginning. From the beginning of this year also ordinary citizens have been using the common European currency EuroFor a number of Finns - just like other Europeans - this was a big step. Own national currency was seen as an essential part of nationhood. Now we have learned that paying in Euros is no more difficult than paying in Finnish markka. But it will take quite a few years, until we stop mentally converting every figure also to the old currency. Change takes its time.

I wish all the readers and also the journalists of Jakarta Post a happy end of 2002 and a most successful year of 2003, Season's Greetings to all of you!

Matti Pullinen Ambassador of Finland