Education and Science, Estonia, Funds

According to the agreement, the parties that signed it support increasing the public sector funding of research and development and innovation to one percent of GDP and promise to maintain it at least on the same level, the Office of the President said.

For that, it will be agreed that the state budget strategy in 2019 will stipulate reaching the target rate over three years with the addition of equal sums.

Research institutions will ensure the institutional organization necessary for high-level research and the carrying out of cooperation between research and entrepreneurship as well as for additional motivation and research will do their best to ensure that the resources granted to them are used for research and development in a way that ensures a balance between basic and applied research by developing as a priority fields aimed at the development of the Estonian economy and society.

Estonia's largest entrepreneurship organizations will affirm their readiness to help make the Estonian economy more innovative and seek possibilities for the greater cooperation between entrepreneurs and Estonian researchers and research institutions.

President Kersti Kaljulaid expressed joy that the agreement was signed. "The world is becoming increasingly knowledge-based and in order to maintain the place won so far, we have no other option than to accelerate our research-technical development," the head of state said.

Kaljulaid said that the people of Estonia have submitted their clear order to both the politicians and researchers and said that the natural resource we can mine in Estonia is between two ears. "The Estonian nature must be clean and our people are not convinced that the technologies of the 20th century have become cleaner. They want that we skip the period of hardcore industrialization in our economic development and progress toward an increasingly research-intensive economy and service economy. This undoubtedly cannot take place without strong research," the president said.

The societal agreement for ensuring the development of Estonian research and innovation was signed by Center Party leader Juri Ratas, Reform Party chair Kaja Kallas, Free Party leader Kaul Nurm, Biodiversity Party's authorized representative Mihkel Kangur, Estonia 200 chair Kristina Kallas, Estonian Greens leader Zuleyxa Izmailova, Pro Patria chair Helir-Valdor Seeder, Social Democratic Party (SDE) leader Jevgeni Ossinovski, chairman of the council of rectors Mait Klaassen, president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Tarmo Soomere, president of the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences Els Heinsalu, head of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Toomas Luman and head of the Estonian Employers' Confederation Toomas Tamsar.