Estonia's economic challenges today resemble those of wealthier nations, the president added, speaking at the Company of the Year awards gala held at the National Library in Tallinn on Saturday.

It is nice to welcome you to a place where knowledge and thought are so valued. A library is a symbolic place for presenting entrepreneurship awards; here the ideas and experiences are stored, on which new innovation is born. Entrepreneurship and knowledge are two chapters of the same story, both speaking of the courage to create something new and the desire to become better.

Today is a celebration of entrepreneurship. In addition to recognizing the best, we want to highlight enterprise and the entrepreneurial spirit more broadly, because entrepreneurship is that which drives life forward. Your willingness to take risks and your innovativeness keep our society vital, dear entrepreneurs. But that you already know.

After some tough years, the Estonian economy is growing again. According to Statistics Estonia, GDP in the third quarter was 0.9 percent higher than a year earlier. This growth is unusually modest, but at least the direction is a positive one.

We have become used to faster growth down the years, and those who say that we have already picked the low-hanging fruit are probably right, so in the future, even a small amount of economic growth will require more effort.

This may sound like a cliché, but we are not a cheap workforce country, and we must now compare ourselves instead with Germany and the Nordic countries than with our previous selves. This demonstrates that our economic challenges are similar to those of the wealthier countries, which do not have the luxury of learning from more successful ones how to grow their economies.

Every next step for economic growth will come harder than the one before, and will require more knowledge, cooperation, and more complex technology.

Estonia's success has always come from cleverness and adaptability. Now, we need to find a new momentum to make our economy more technology-intensive, both through new knowledge-based enterprises and by developing existing companies. This means investments in knowledge, science, and people's skills. This means that entrepreneurship, science and development must all speak the same language. And it also means that the role of the state is to create an environment where new ideas can grow, not to replace these or dictate them.

I am delighted that a number of innovative companies ran for the entrepreneurship awards. Not all of these will be recognized with a prize, but it is a joy to see that our business is increasingly science-intensive and deals with solving more complex problems.

Entrepreneurship is not only the engine driving the economy, but is also part of our national character. It is the ability to see opportunities and find a way forward when it has not yet been charted.

Today, as we recognize the entrepreneurs of the year, we also recognize this spirit — the courage that drives us and the sense of responsibility that holds society together.

Dear entrepreneurs, I thank you for the work you have done. Your contribution helps Estonia grow — not only economically, but also mentally and culturally.

I wish you strength, curiosity and perseverance, to keep our economy smart, flexible, and creative.

Congratulations to all those recognized and success to us all in building a more enterprising Estonia.

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