The Baltic Institute of Finland 10th Anniversary Seminar 

BALTIC SEA COOPERATION IN THE CHANGING EUROPE

Tampere Hall, Tampere, Finland
Wednesday 20 October 2004

The Baltic Institute of Finland celebrated its 10th anniversary with a high-level seminar "Baltic Sea Cooperation in the Changing Europe" in Tampere. Approximately 120 participants representing Baltic Sea organisations, universities, companies and governmental institutions in the region took part in the jubileum seminar.

The seminar speakers were:

-  Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja
-  Ole Frijs-Madsen, Director of Baltic Development Forum
-  Timo Pesonen, Head of the European Commission Representation in Finland
-  Bogdan Zagrobelny, Chairman of the Working Group on Economic Cooperation, Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
-  Andrey V. Kotov, First Secretary in the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Finland
-  Alexander Demidov, City of St. Petersburg
-  Adam Rotfeld, Secretary of State of the Polish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
-  Audrius Bruzka, Ambassador of Lithuania in Finland

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja made in his speech a comprehensive outlook on the history and current situation of Baltic Sea cooperation. He underlined that in the beginning, over 10 years ago a dominant goal was to build up societies that had regained their sovereignty, and that mission can now be considered accomplished. Now the key issue is to promote a dialogue between EU and Russia, which has also been one of the main elements within the EU Northern Dimension policy.
 
Tuomioja mentioned EU's increasing interest towards its New Neighbours, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. According to Tuomioja, this is not in conflict with developing cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region. He stated that the New Neighbourhood Policy of the EU should be connected to a financing instrument efficient enough to allow appropriate funding of cooperation with both Northwest Russia and the New Neighbours. The Minister pointed out that Finland also has the opportunity to extend its own assistance activities to the New Neighbours, in particular Belarus and Ukraine.

SEMINAR PROGRAMME

A Russian-Finnish seminar

Protection of Intellectual Property: Practices in Russia

6-7 October 2004
St. Petersburg, Smolny

Joint Project of Federal Service on Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (ROSPATENT) and UNDP to create an Intellectual property information and legal center, the City of St. Petersburg and the Baltic Institute of Finland organized a seminar on "Protection of Intellectual Property: Practises in Russia" on 6-7 October 2004 in St. Petersburg. This event was an outcome of cooperation between the Baltic Institute of Finland and the UNDP St. Petersburg office in the field of IPR and promotion of joint Finnish-Russian interests in protection of intellectual property.

The seminar topics dealed with legal regulation, state and public control, law enforcement and customs procedures in protection of intellectual property in Russia. In addition, joint activities and cooperation between Finnish and Russian authorities in this field were discussed. More than 50 Russian and Finnish IPR experts participated in the seminar.

SEMINAR PROGRAMME

Seminar on New Business Opportunities in the Baltic States, 25 August 2004

Free movement of capital and labour in the new EU member countries provide tempting opportunities for Finnish companies to utilize the low tax level, low labour costs and growing markets especially in the Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 

BIF organised together with the law firm Borenius & Kemppinen a seminar on tax issues and EU membership effects on the Baltic States' business environment.

The seminar took place in the Museum Centre Vapriikki, Tampere on 25 August 2004.

PROGRAMME 

Closing seminar of the Finnish-Polish environmental co-operation project, 17 June 2004

Closing seminar of the project "Development of Environmental Cooperation between Tampere Region and Polish Coastal Regions" was organised in the Baltic Institute of Finland on 17 June. The main speaker of the seminar was the new Commercial Councellor of the Embassy of Poland Mr. Boleslaw Kosciukiewicz.

Programme of the seminar
Project presentation, 17 June 2004

Conference: Towards Sustainable Futures -Tools and Strategies, 14-15 June 2004

Finland Futures Research Centre under the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration organised a conference on the future of sustainable development, sustainability strategies, and measuring the performance of the strategies.

The Baltic Institute of Finland organised one of the six workshops "Growing markets and sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region" in the conference.

The conference took place in the Tampere Hall on 14–15 June 2004.

Further information
Workshop results

Polish art in Tampere 

Art Exhibition in the main library Metso

The Baltic Institute of Finland and the Embassy of Poland organised together an art exhibition presented by four artists from Poland:

The opening of the exhibition was on 6 May 2004. The exhibition was opened by Mr. Stanislaw Stebelski, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland.

Seminar on the importance of cultural know-how in Russian trade

Tampere, 30 March 2004

Museum Centre Vapriikki and BIF organized a seminar on the importance of cultural know-how in Russian trade in Vapriikki, Tampere on 30 March 2004. The seminar was organized in connection with a joint exhibition "The Palace of Knowledge" by Vapriikki and the Kunstkamera museum, St. Petersburg. Leading Finnish experts on Russian business, culture and politics lectured in the seminar.

Seminar programme (in Finnish)

Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights in Russia: Latests Developments

Helsinki, 24 February 2004

BIF together with Exportum Ltd organized a high level seminar on IPR development in Russia in the premises of the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland in Helsinki on 24 February. The seminar included presentations by Mr. A. Korchagin, General Director of Rospatent and Mr. Martti Enäjärvi, Director General of National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland. A joint UNDP and Rospatent project "Intellectual Property Information and Legal Centre" was also presented and discussed in the seminar. More than 40 Finnish and Russian IPR experts participated in the seminar.

Seminar programme

Ministeri Paula Lehtomäki puhui Itämeri-yhteistyön tulevaisuudesta Itämeri-instituutissa 8.1.2004

Itämeren alue on poliittisesti ja taloudellisesti mielenkiintoisessa kehitysvaiheessa. Euroopan unionin laajentumisen ja EU–Venäjä -suhteiden uudistumisen myötä alueesta on muodostumassa yhä tärkeämpi kaupankäyntiä ja eri alojen yhteistyötä tukeva suuralue, jossa Suomella on avainrooli. Alueen maiden välistä yhteistyötä tuetaan myös Suomen aloitteesta vuonna 1997 käynnistyneellä EU:n Pohjoisen ulottuvuuden politiikalla, jota koskeva uusi toimintasuunnitelma on laadittu vuosille 2004–2006.

Itämeri-instituutin järjestämä keskustelutilaisuus Itämeren alueen yhteistyö 2004 kokosi yli 30 suomalaista Itämeren alueen asiantuntijaa keskustelemaan Itämeren alueen yhteistyön näkymistä Suomen lähialueyhteistyön ja vienninedistämisen näkökulmista. Keskustelutilaisuus järjestettiin osana Pohjoisen ulottuvuuden tietopalveluverkostoa.

Tilaisuudessa puhunut ulkomaankauppa- ja kehitysministeri Paula Lehtomäki kertoi Suomelle keskeisistä lähialueyhteistyön teemoista, joita ovat tällä hetkellä 1) ympäristö-, 2) energia- ja 3) terveyskysymykset. EU–Venäjä -suhteet korostuvat erityisesti energia-asioissa, jotka öljykuljetusten kautta vaikuttavat suoraan myös Itämeren ympäristön tilaan ja turvallisuuteen.

Lehtomäki korosti, että EU:n laajentuminen lisää entisestään alueellisen ja rajat ylittävän yhteistyön tarvetta, sillä tavoitteenamme on oltava vanhojen ja uusien itänaapurien välisten jakolinjojen hälveneminen. Laajentuminen edesauttaa myös kaupan esteiden poistamista ja tehokkaampien yhteismarkkinoiden luomista. Lehtomäki uskoo myös Venäjän lisäävän tulevaisuudessa panostaan alueellisessa yhteistyössä joko Pohjoisen ulottuvuuden puitteissa tai Itämeren valtioiden neuvoston (CBSS) toiminnan kautta.

Ulkopoliittisen instituutin tutkija Hiski Haukkala pohti esityksessään EU:n Pohjoisen ulottuvuuden ja EU:n uusia naapureita Valkovenäjää, Ukrainaa ja Moldovaa koskevan Itäisen ulottuvuuden politiikan suhdetta. Hän totesi, että Pohjoinen ulottuvuus on vaarassa jäädä muiden painopisteiden varjoon ja ilman selkeitä rahoituskanavia laajentuvassa EU:ssa, mutta säilynee avainasemassa erityisesti EU–Venäjä -yhteistyön edistäjänä. Haukkala peräänkuulutti Pohjoisen ulottuvuuden politiikan tarkempaa rajaamista ja muutamiin avainteemoihin keskittymistä tulevaisuudessa.

Ministeri Lehtomäen puhe