Download Kinni-Huttunen`s Speech - Embassy of Finland, Windhoek

28/06/2017
Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Finland
FINLAND'S INDEPENDENCE DAY, 6TH OF DECEMBER 2007
Statement by Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of
Finland in Namibia
Honourable Minister
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Members of the Parliament
Your Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps
Fellow Finns - Hyvät suomalaiset, Bästa Finländare
Representatives of the media
All invited guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
I warmly welcome you all to join us in celebrating the 90th Independence
Day of the Republic of Finland. It is a cold and dark winter night in
Finland and I am happy, for the fifth and final year, to celebrate this
special day here in beautiful Namibia together with all of you.
Ek wil u graag baie welkom heet met die Neentigste onafhanklikheids
viering van die Republik van Finland. Vanaand is n baie koue en donker
winters nag in Finland en ek is baie gelukkig en bevoorreg, om vir die
vyfde en finale jaar, saam met u hierdie spesiale dag te vier in goeie
atmosfeer hier in Namibie.
Ondemutaambako amuhe shomweya tudhaneni pamwe emongulluko
lyoshilong shaFinland, agawanitha oomvula omilongo omugoyi nena.
Okwatala nokuna omilema, ongulohi ndjika yokufu ko Finland.
28/06/2017
Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Finland
Ondanyanyukwa, molwa Omvula ontintano noyahugunina, Okudhana
esiku ndika lyasimana muka mo Shilongo oshiwanawa Namibia pumwe
nane amuhe.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of Finnish independence. That is a
respectable age for a person, and for a state it is a good reason to
celebrate. Finland gained independence on the 6th of December 1917.
The Parliament Act adopted already in 1906 created Finnish democracy:
universal suffrage gave all adult Finns the right to vote and stand for
election.
The first crusade to Finland was led by the King of Sweden in 1155,
starting a union with Sweden that was to last for 600 years. In 1809
Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as a Grand Duchy.
Swedish laws were retained and the country was allowed to keep its own
currency, mail and railway systems. Amid the turmoil of the Russian
Revolution, Finland declared its independence in 1917, establishing its
present
constitution
and
status
as
a
republic
in
1919.
The official national languages were – and still are - Finnish and
Swedish. Recent studies suggest that the ethnic roots of the Finnish
people lie to the south and south-east of Europe, from which our
ancestors migrated following the last Ice Age some 9,000 years ago.
Finland is perhaps best known for its peacefulness and beautiful nature.
Vast forests, a unique archipelago and thousands of lakes present a
striking mixture of wooded hills and waters. Finland enjoys some of the
most extensive and unspoilt natural environment in Europe. It is
sometimes referred to as the 'land of the thousand lakes', but in fact
there were a total of 187,888 at the last count. And 1, 6 million saunas,
28/06/2017
Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Finland
most of them by the lakes, rivers and sea! Which -yes- are frozen at the
moment!
In addition to its mystical northern nature, Finland is also a modern
Nordic and European country with a high standard of living and
advanced economy and technology.
When Finland gained its independence it had a population of 3.1 million
people. Now, 90 years on, the Finnish population numbers 5.3 million.
The population structure is, however, radically different as decreasing
births lower the number of children and longer life expectancy adds to
the number of elderly people. Radical changes are also visible in the
industrial structure. In the early 20th century Finland was an entirely
agricultural society, whereas now we live in a post-industrial society
based
on
services.
Throughout Finland's independence, industrial production has been a
vital generator of economic growth in the country. Between 1925 and
2006, Finland's industrial output went up by an average of five per cent
per year despite the fact that the period contained the Second World
War and two economic recessions. The growth of Finland's industrial
output has clearly exceeded the average respective growth in other
industrialised
countries.
Despite our reputation of being reticent, the Finns have been among the
forerunners in the world in the use of the telephone. The first telephone
line was erected in Helsinki towards the end of 1877; only 18 months
after the telephone had been patented in the United States. Mobile
28/06/2017
Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Finland
phones and internet connections made their penetration in Finland much
earlier and more quickly than in any other country in the world. I am sure
most of you have NOKIA cell phones; you might not know that NOKIA is
a small town in Finland; the company manufactured televisions and
rubber boots before expanding into the global high-tech markets and the
rest is history!
We Finns are considered hard-working, honest and very modest people.
On this special day I, however, would like to tell you that Finland is one
of the most competitive economies and the least corrupt countries in the
world. We rank best in the Environmental Sustainability Index and have
Europe's top educational system and also top in the OECD's PISA study
of learning skills among 15-year-olds.
Finland is one of the world’s
leading knowledge based economies.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Finland is a reliable partner to Namibia. The partnership and friendship
between Namibia and Finland is even older than our independence. The
first Finnish missionaries arrived in Northern Namibia 140 years ago and
the cooperation has continued in different fields and forms until to date.
Finland will continuously support Namibia in the critical areas, most of
them being interlinked.
I am very happy to say that we have succeeded in broadening and
diversifying our cooperation significantly. The cooperation programmes
in the fields of good governance, democracy development, human rights
and gender equality, support to those infected by HIV, the disabled,
orphans and vulnerable children and the indigenous people, and support
28/06/2017
Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Finland
to sustainable tourism and to culture and arts, has been active and
mutually benefiting.
Collaboration between Namibian and Finnish people, public institutions,
civil society organisations, learning institutions and municipalities has
been active this year and a great number of visits have taken place.
Promoting tourism is one of our priorities and eight tourism SMEs
participated in the biggest Scandinavian Tourism Fair in Helsinki in
January. Representatives of the ruling party, the opposition and The
Electoral Commission visited Finland to monitor and learn from our
Parliamentary elections in March. The cooperation between Windhoek
and the City of Vantaa , Ondangwa, Keetmanshoop, Kangasala and
Lempäälä towns continue.
We have also been busy in creating and facilitating the commercial and
economic relations between Finland and Namibia. Concessional Credit
Projects are implemented and FINNPARTNERSHIP service, which helps
companies and other economic actors both in Finland and in Namibia to
seek out new cooperation opportunities, is in active use in Namibia. The
Embassy met with many old friends and certainly made new friends in
the Industrial and Tourism Fairs in Windhoek and in the North where we
had our own stands.
Let me take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Government of
Namibia, the Public Institutions and the civil society organisations
thank you for your hard work, effort and dedication for Namibia's
development and for building the partnerships between our two
countries and the fruitful and regular discussions and dialogue
28/06/2017
Ms. Seija Kinni-Huttunen
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Finland
throughout the year. I extend a warm welcome to representatives of
the Finnish delegations currently in Namibia and celebrating the
Independence Day with us tonight.
The logo ME! (this in English means US!) of the 90th anniversary year
refers to the full range of 'Finnishness' − original Finns, historical
minorities,
newcomer
Finns
and
expatriates.
Over the centuries, Finns have developed the Finnish way of life,
which we are now celebrating. With the WE! spirit Finland has gone
from strength to strength. The anniversary logo encourages all Finns
to
continue
working
and
doing
together!
Honourable Minister. Ladies and Gentlemen.
I would like us all to raise our glasses to a toast to the independence of
Finland, to the special friendship of the Namibian and Finnish people
and to the health and well being of His Excellency the President of the
Republic of Namibia Hifikepunye Pohamba.