- Reset +

President Ilves visited the Tallinn Technology Park

06.03.2008

“The Tallinn Technology Park is special – on an entrepreneurial environment located between universities and knowledge on the one hand, and money and the market on the other, the principal objective of which is to provide services to support the growth of businesses,” President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said yesterday during a visit to the Tallinn Technology Park.

“Considering the reality of Estonia, where unfortunately, we cannot speak today about knowledge-based manufacturing, such technology parks are a necessary connecting link, which will help us change the situation, and also to reorganize Estonia’s economy,” the Head of State said, added that technology parks are also important channels for the state to support innovation and thereby the new economy.

“An approach that deserves special support is creating “yeast” for daring new ideas and active enterprise in technology parks, from which truly international breakthroughs can be hoped for,” President Ilves said. “The purpose of technology parks is to assemble innovative inquisitive world views with the goal of achieving synergy, so that good ideas can give birth to subsequent and even better ideas.”

The Head of State recalled that Estonia’s promising solutions are not related only to knowledge and technology, but foremost to an entrepreneurial environment that supports competent people and cooperation, where innovative management and marketing techniques, new designs, etc. are provided.

“Parks do not “work” if they lack specialized competence—creatively thinking and ambitious people with good specialized training,” President Ilves pointed out. “This is Estonia’s primary task—to lure talented young people into research and development, to attract talent from around the world, including the talented young people who have departed Estonia. Technology parks are a home of sorts for them.”

“We must have sufficient patience. Discoveries and the new economy will not arrive overnight,” said the Head of State. “Therefore, we should not pay attention to the critics that demand rapid “breakthroughs” from technology parks and the companies operating therein. Actual results require time and resources. And the government’s patience along with consistency in financing.”

Office of the President
Public Relations Department
Phone +372 631 6229