Helsinki-Tallinn Euroregio

Helsinki-Tallinn Euregio is a nonprofit association established in 2003. As a network it took shape already in 1999. Euregio unites two regions -Harju County in Estonia and Uusimaa Region in Finland - with the population of almost 2 million and the territory of over 10 000 sq/km.

The twin-region of Helsinki-Uusimaa and Tallinn-Harjumaa is a costal area that profits from the economic momentum of the whole Baltic Rim area as well as from its location on the internal and external border of the European Union. The Global Competitiveness Report 2003-2004 of the World Economic Forum ranks Finland the first and Estonia the twenty-second by the growth competitiveness index (GCI) out of 102 countries of the world. Euregio has a great potential for future synergy by using the other's strengths to complement one's own. During his visit to the Innopolis Technology Centre in January of 2004, Prime Minister of Estonia Mr Juhan Parts stressed that an exchange of information and experience on various levels between Estonia and Finland was very important. Prime Minister of Finland agreed that the ideas of Euregio would require political attention and support.

The role of Euroregio
According to Mr Orm Valtson, the Governor of Harju County, Euregio is a symbol that carries a common message of Tallinn-Harjumaa and Helsinki-Uusimaa and demonstrates the viable enrichment that comes from the integration of the two regions. Euregio as an organization creates an arena for realizing the visions and innovation of Europe in an entrepreneurial environment of the capital regions of Estonia and Finland.

The joint Region
One of Euregio's priority initiatives is the Helsinki-Tallinn Science Twin City project where Euregio forges new partnerships and facilitates cooperation between universities, science and technology parks and private business. It follows the principles of the European Union's Lisbon Strategy to make Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010.

The chances of economic success in the region to develop knowledge-based innovative economy would greatly increase by pooling government, municipal, and private resources to promote entrepreneurship. The priorities include the establishment of high-tech companies that create new jobs. The long-term vision foresees the future fusion of the two regions into a common science, education and high-tech business area.

According to professor Mart Saarma, a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and director of Biotechnology Institute at Helsinki University, both Finland and Estonia are small countries on the global scale but could be great together. One very good example is the integration of Finnish high tech information technology and human molecular genetics with the Estonian Genome Project.