(FORTUNE Magazine) – As president of Nokia, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, Ala-Pietila steers a telecom giant whose largest market is the U.S., whose fastest-growing market is China, and whose cellular phones are manufactured in Finland, Germany, Hungary, China, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and Fort Worth.

Where were you on Sept. 11 and how did you first hear about the attacks?

I was on an airplane when it happened. I was flying to Barcelona to give a keynote speech at a big conference. When I landed and called the organizers of the conference, they described the situation to me.

What has the attack meant to Nokia?

The business environment--the psychological part of business--has been challenging for a while. Now the world is challenging in a different way. The tragic events have cast additional elements of uncertainty in our lives and caused anxiety over the future. So it's not easy to focus on the positive developments, and it's harder than usual to have a strong faith in the future. Yet this is just the time to keep building systems that will help people connect to each other for better understanding. And it is time to build a basis for the next phase of growth. So even though it is a moment of great uncertainty, this is exactly when we as an industry must make critical decisions about the future.

Airlines weren't flying in the U.S. for a few days after the event. Was your supply chain disrupted?

Only for a few days. We were very fortunate. It didn't affect our factory output at all.

How have Finns reacted to the event?

It has deeply shocked them. There's a disbelief that this kind of thing can happen, that the world can be like this. It has changed people's basic beliefs.

In the past you've evinced enormous faith that communication is so valuable, such a basic need, that your industry is sure of long-term growth, despite its many short-term problems. Now that globalization has taken a hit, do you think communication still has that inherent appeal?

Globalization is made of so many different things, extending from international trade and open financial markets to the immediate distribution of news globally and the new technologies that help any individual communicate. I believe the other trends will continue, but I am absolutely certain that communication will remain a fundamental need. Whether the environment is safe and prosperous, or uncertain and insecure, communication is simply part of basic human behavior. And we will provide better and better means for communications, not only for voice and text but also for images and multimedia that are user-friendly and affordable.