The Baltic Twins – What can Finland learn from Estonia?

One hundred top Finnish business leaders, politicians and experts gathered in Tallinn on August 28th to learn from and compare with Estonia’s experiences. Panelists of the event included Prime Ministers of the two countries, Mr Andrus Ansip and Mr Matti Vanhanen, as well as top experts and representatives of the Finnish private and public sectors.

Finland and Estonia have had very different paths to success. Do Finns have something to learn from their Southern neighbor’s strategy? And what does the future of the Finnish-Estonian co-operation look like?

These were the main themes of this one-day seminar. Member of the Parliament Heidi Hautala, Chairman Mikko Mäenpää (The Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees) and CEO, Chairman Joakim Helenius (Trigon Capital SA) discussed different welfare models. The panel on tax systems and tax competition featured professor Alvin Rabushka (Stanford University), EVA Parliament Fellow Mart Laar and Director General Jukka Pekkarinen (Finnish Ministry of Finance). Other speakers included professor Bengt Holmström (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Secretary General Matti Maasikas, Tallinn City Mayor Jüri Ratas and Helsinki Lord Mayor Jussi Pajunen. Manager Kadri Tali and Helsinki City Cultural Director Pekka Timonen gave their visions on Finnish-Estonian cultural co-operation.

EVA SYMPOSIUM was held at Eesti Kunstimuuseum KUMU, which was presented by Architect Pekka Vapaavuori. The seminar ended in a reception by Finnish Ambassador Jaakko Kalela and EVA at Kadriorg Palace.