Finding a Balance - Karen Ellemanns reflections from the meetings:
The Foreign Ministry of Estonia would like to develop the co-operation further
Markus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia gave positive feedback to the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers´ and suggested that Nordic-Estonian cooperation is developed further. Special attention was given to the co-operation done with the Nordic Council of Ministers for Digitalisation (MR-DIGITAL) and the work that has been done to strengthen cyber security, create a single digital market in the Nordic and Baltic countries, deepen digital collaboration, and the development of a cohesive digital infrastructure for the region’s citizens, businesses, and administrations. In addition, the education field, integration, youth and psycho-social topics were brought up as fields of high interest for co-operation between the Nordic and Baltic Countries.
Has Europe become a museum?
During the seminar held before the Nordic Investment Bank Annual Board of Governors Meeting Ellemann highlighted the need for a long-term focus and goals that shape the future and competitiveness of the entire Nordic-Baltic region. "We need to work together for our common goals, so we can build a more prosperous and resilient future for future generations," said Ellemann. The other discussions at the morning seminar for the shareholders in Kadriorg Castle highlighted the need for new production capacities, reducing dependence on imported energy and raw materials, developing research-intensive entrepreneurship and preserving the region's open and flexible business environment.
As another highlight the Chief Executive Officer of Ericsson, Börje Ekholm, mentioned in his address to the NIB meeting that: „Europe is a wonderful place. It has great restaurants, great wine and is lovely to visit, but it has become a museum. This region is far too regulated, and filling the regulations need too big investments too early in the process for most companies. For example, start-ups are faced with GDPR or AI compliance so early in their process, that they rarely get the chance to make the initial income before the opportunity is gone. Against this background, we have moved most of our work to markets in the USA, India and China.“ This quote engaged the participants in a great discussion about innovation, sustainability and the need for balanced regulations.
We need to share not only successe stories, but also learn from failures
During the meeting with the Nordic Ambassadors to Estonia the focus was more on value-based work. High on the list of important topics to be worked with were gender equality, young people, community building and connecting different regions, and education issues. While development of the social sector was seen as a field where Estonia could learn more from the Nordics, the integration of newly arrived refugees was something that was highlighted as a topic where the embassies see value in sharing the Estonian experience with the Nordics. While it is always great to hear positive news and success stories it was come to a conclusion that there is also much that we can learn from each-others failures.