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— Japan and Estonia celebrated the 26th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations last year. How do you see the development of our bilateral relations?
This year is the 100th anniversary of Estonia’s independence, and we are happy that Japanese Prime Minister Abe was the first head of state to visit Estonia this January. Estonia and Japan have excellent political relations as well as close economic ties. Last year, we had around 100,000 Japanese tourists visiting Estonia. We expect that our bilateral relationship will develop even further by negotiating the working holiday program and concluding the tax convention between Japan and the Republic of Estonia. And the Japan-Europe economic relationship will be reinforced by the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement that was concluded last year under the Estonian presidency in the European Union council. The public and private partnership in both countries are in progress in the fields of information and communication technology (ICT) and cyber security where Estonia is making advanced efforts. In the year following a large-scale cyber-attack against Estonia in 2007, the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE) was established in Tallinn. We welcome Japan’s decision to join the NATO CCD COE as a contributing participant. There are two Estonians famous in Japan: Baruto Kaito who is a former sumo wrestler and Maestro Paavo Järvi who is the chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra (NHKSO). As for people-to-people contacts, the Estonia-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group, Japan-Estonia Friendship Association, and the sister city relationship between Saku in Nagano Prefecture and Saku in Estonia are very active.
— As Ambassador to Japan, what are your priority agendas for further strengthening the bilateral ties?
As a legal framework for strengthening the economic ties, we hope for Japan’s early ratification of the convention for double taxation avoidance between Japan and Estonia. The business delegations that accompanied Prime Minister’s visit included companies in the industries of ICT, food, timber, and transportation; and our embassy is supporting the business exchanges. Also, a separate organization called Enterprise Estonia (Estonian Investment Agency) supports investments and tourism in Estonia. And to commemorate the 100th anniversary of independence, the Estonian National Male Choir and the NHKSO will hold a concert in Tokyo in September. The city of Saku is also planning seminars and concerts.
— What was the outcome of the transition to a free market economy after re-independence?
During the transition from the planned economy to the market economy in the early 1990s, Estonia carried out radical structural reforms. Although difficult, the transition was really big and dramatic. Many industries were privatized, and our economy became market-oriented. We underwent legal reforms to conform to the rules of the EU and became an EU member in 2004, which globalized our economy. The greatest benefit was that we now have a high-class human capital and a cutting-edge digital society. Currently, 98% of the nation has access to the Internet. And educational and other social reforms contributed to the human capital. Estonia has high economic transparency, and offers an open and competitive business environment to foreign enterprises. We are a small country but trying to be flexible, which is the cornerstone of our success. And as a high-income economy, Estonia joined OECD and now regarded as a developed country. By adopting IT, the public services are increasingly digitalized, which include e-Government, e-Tax, i-Voting, e-Health, and e-Residency.
— The Baltic States have deepened their mutual cooperation since restoring independence at the same time. How is the cooperation of the Baltic Sea region promoted?
There are 3 regional levels of cooperation. The close intergovernmental cooperation among the Baltic states has a long history. Another important level of cooperation is Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8). Estonia feels much connected mentally and economically to Nordic countries, especially Finland, located just across the gulf. The third level, Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation (BSSSC), includes Germany, Poland, and Russia in addition to the 7 Baltic and Nordic countries, and work together to solve ecological and other problems. In the area of infrastructure development, we are discussing some projects such as Rail Baltic that starts in Tallinn and connects the 3 Baltic states to Central and Western Europe and the Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel proposal. As for the security cooperation among the 3 Baltic countries, the Baltic Defence College, established in Estonia, provides specialized defense-related education to the leaders in the military and private sectors. Among the Nordic countries, Denmark and Norway have joined NATO, whereas Sweden and Finland remain neutral. But we work together to address various defense problems in the region. Estonia has no internal problems although about 25% of its people are ethnically Russian. The new generation that grew up in Estonia are flexible and very loyal to Estonia; and they co-exist with the older generation that went through the trauma of the collapse of Soviet Union. The people have different views about the Russian invasion in Crimea. But the small Estonian society is making efforts to accept all its people.
—What is Ambassador’s view about the impact of Brexit on Estonia?
We feel rather sorry. Estonia welcomes the sufficient progress reached in the first phase of the negotiations on citizen’s rights, financial settlement and Irish border. We are prouding that it was reached during the Estonian Presidency in the last European Council. We hope that the negotiation’s second phase will start as scheduled and that the UK will soon be ready to put its concrete proposals on the table.Estonia along with other 26 EU Member States have expressed their wish to seek for balanced future relationship with the UK, based on rights and obligations. Estonia would like to continue close co-operation with the UK in terms of trade, security and defense, justice and home affairs, and fight against terrorism, Economic consequences to Estonia are modest.
（Interview by Shu Tamaru, FEC Counsellor）