Press release: President of the Republic of Finland visited the Estonian EXPO Pavilion

President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen and Dr Pentti Arajärvi visited the Estonian EXPO Pavilion on Sunday the 30th of May. The president is well known for her interest in art and she expressed her respect to the high quality of the exhibition that is shown at the moment in the Estonian Pavilion's VIP area  - "Printed Matter from Estonia", which reflects the printmaking techniques that Graafikakoda, the printmaking workshop at the building of Tallinn Art Hall has cultivated, but also shows the changes that Estonian contemporary graphic arts has gone through.

The president was taken on a tour through Estonian Pavilion by Enterprise Estonia's Helsinki representative Mr. Valdar Liive and she was accompanied by Commissioner General  of Finland, Mr. Pertti Huitu and Consul General of Finland, Mr. Matti Heimonen as well as several other high ranked Finnish politicians and businessmen. The President was impressed by Estonian IT SMS solutions presented in the pavilion and also the design furniture and the usage of recycled materials in the pavilion's interiors.

The visit was not officially pre-planned, but the result of both the President's warm and friendly feelings towards Estonia and Estonians, and also the work of Enterprise Estonia and the Estonian Expo team. During the tour H.E. Mrs. Halonen emphasized the closeness between Finnish and Estonian languages and our cultures. She also pointed out the importance of co-marketing of our two countries. The culture capitals of Europe in 2011 are Turku in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia and the co-operation in marketing this together is an excellent opportunity to raise the awarness of the whole region. President Tarja Halonen and Dr. Pentti Arajärvi wrote to the guest book of pavilion both in Estonian and in Finnish - "Suur tänu. Paljon kiitoksia."