Minister, honourable representatives of the municipalities and all the partners, good participants. We warmly welcome you and it is nice that you have arrived to the regional parliament organized by the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region. What is Northern Ostrobothnia like? Geographically, we are the 2nd largest region in Finland. Homeland for about 416,000 people. We are also a region of young people. The average age of a Northern Ostrobothnian is about 40.2 years.  The eyes turn north in many ways. in cooperation with the many changes in the world, the North is becoming a national question for Finland and a question of the future for Europe as a whole, both in terms of security and economy. The importance of the north has become even more pronounced, unfortunately in cooperation with the ongoing brutal Russian war of aggression and Finland's NATO membership.  At present, about 95 per cent of Finland's foreign trade passes through the Gulf of Finland by sea. In the event of a disruption to maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland, we will have to resort to alternative routes. The geopolitical importance of the north is crystallised in the fact that, in such a situation, land connections are used, the only of which passes through northern Finland to Sweden and Norway, and from there to the world. The north is our gateway to the west. The increasing emphasis on security has led us to consider how we can most reliably secure our country's security of supply even in crisis situations. Efficient and smooth transport connections are prerequisites for ensuring safety and economic growth. The main connections in our region are of national importance.  Export euros circulating on the tracks, i.e. export tons. They don't vote. Freight runs from the ports of Oulu and Raahe on the tracks at maximum capacity. That is why Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's government will implement the Oulu-Liminka double track. Its plans are expected to be completed in early 2024. Hopefully, the Government will make a financing decision on the project as soon as possible, already during 2024. After the Oulu-Liminka double track, the biggest bottleneck for freight transport, i.e. economic growth, is the Liminka-Ylivieska interval. That's why we need the Liminka-Ylivieska double track. Let's move the conversation from hours to tons.  The flight connections in Northern Ostrobothnia serve as on market terms. Flights to Oulu and Kuusamo are prerequisites for the accessibility of our region. The past year has been difficult for Oulu flights. When Norwegian discontinued its scheduled flights between Oulu and Helsinki, the number of flights decreased, and due to the discontinuation of Finnair's smaller aircraft and competition, the prices of the flights have been completely unreasonable and the availability in cooperation with the card.   The efforts of BusinessOulu, the City of Oulu and the Regional Regional Assembly to get new air connections and stakeholders have been ambitious and diverse. We in the region, together, have shown strong political support for these.   In November, Finnair will increase the number of flights and return larger aircraft between Oulu and Helsinki. Lufthansa will start flights from Oulu to Munich in December. In the spring, I was negotiating the Clean Energy Finland section of Petteri Orpo's Government Programme,…

Dear Northern Ostrobothnians, honourable guests, as a citizen of Oulu and a citizen of Northern Ostrobothnia, I have taken the opportunity to greet the 90-year-old Regional Regional Assembly of Northern Ostrobothnia. Honour feels very special, because for me the union has been an important way of getting to know not only regional decision-making, but also regional cooperation and one's own roots even more strongly. When you are in these positions, you will learn extensively where you come from when you come from Northern Ostrobothnia. This feeling is well illustrated by the poem My Land by Samuel Gustaf Bergh (1803-1852), a poet from Oulu: O ye' the summer nights of the north, in which the sun shines, even the wings of the water of the sky! For you, if Onnitar would do anything else, I would know all the Islands and straits, and also the stars and the moon in the sky. There's the rest of my worries, and there's the rest of my memories, there's the rest of my gold, there's the rest of my friends, too. – Let the rest of the Alps be praised for their beauty'; The most beautiful, more expensive is the rest of the birth country. I can relate strongly to the feelings of Bergh's poem. North Korea is first and foremost a home. When, after a work week, the view from the train window escapes further into the horizon, it feels like the chest opens and it is lighter to breathe. When the hills and pimples of the landscape level up, busy thoughts and serenity take over the mind. Returning home literally puts things in perspective. It's good to settle down here. A strong emotional bond is not limited to the landscape. We Northern Ostrobothnians also seem to have a certain level of stability and certainty. Feelings are hard to put into words. When you look into the eyes of the Northern Ostrobothnian, there is no veil of hypocrisy in front of you. People in Oulu would say that we are owls. That is, trusting oneself in a healthy way and daring to be and face the other eye from the flat, directly and immediately. For a Northern Ostrobothnian politician, it doesn't help to wave lips because of habit. You have to be genuinely present, talk about it, and also show by deeds that words are fulfilled. On the other hand, directness, clarity and openness ensure that when talking to a Northern Ostrobothnian, you feel that you are standing on solid ground where trust is earned and nurtured. I'm pretty sure this feature will contribute to our ability to network and collaborate. It's easy to trust a fair guy. Dear Friends, Founded in the early 1930s,…