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Estonia

Page history last edited by Brian D Butler 13 years, 4 months ago

 

Tallinn: little Estonia is the envy of other EU states in terms of economic figures (Photo: EC)[1]

 

 

Table of Contents


 

 

 

Estonia

Estonia is a Nordic country located in the Baltic Sea Region, just South of Finland. It is one of Europe's most dynamic emerging economies and gained full membership of the European Union and Nato in 2004. The Estonian currency is fixed to the Euro and is therefore one of the most stable in the region, there is anticipation that the Euro will become the currency in 2007. Estonia is consistently ranked as one of the most liberal and open societies in the world.

 

Tallinn International Airport offers travel to key business destinations across Europe and Russia through a number of international carriers. Tallinn is a youthful, vibrant and cosmopolitan capital city with a large number of overseas companies in financial services and other key sectors. Foreign companies operating in the country include Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Elcoteq, Telia/Sonera, AT&T, ABB, Maersk, Autoliv and Danzas. In central and eastern Europe, Estonia ranks third just behind Czech Republic and Hungary in terms of foreign investment attracted since 1991.

 

Estonia’s economy offers key opportunities for companies in a number of sectors including IT, electronics, machinery/engineering, wood processing, logistics/transport and food. The R&D elements of these activities are supported by the country’s 10 universities and 25 higher education colleges, which collectively provide a source of graduates, often fluent in English, Swedish, Russian, Finnish and German.

 

Additionally, Estonia is involved in some important developments in biotechnology. There are more than 300 biotech researchers at the the country's key universities and institutes including the Estonia Biocenter, University of Tartu (moleular biology) and the Estonian Genome Center Foundation which carries a central health database of 1 million people.

 

Due to geographic proximity, the vibrant Scandinavia IT sector has had a positive impact on Estonia which has developed expertise in specialised markets such as office machinery assembly services and electronic equipment manufacture. Helsinki is just a short hop across the sea and can easily be reached by ferry and plane - the spin-offs from being so close to Finland include Elcoteq making Nokia mobile phones in Estonia.

 

Estonia boasts one of Europe's most modern telecommunications networks and a high degree of IT literacy and technology penetration. Estonians, like other Nordic peoples, are "early adopters" of technology and the size and compact nature of Estonia lends itself to an ideal and cost-effective test marketplace for new products. The opportunities for this include both IT and life sciences. Success stories to come out of Estonia include voice-over-internet company Skype and file-sharing software Kazaa.

 

 

Currency:

 

Estonia is set to become the 17th member of the Eurozone

 

Why join the Euro?:

 

"Estonian politicians and diplomats say that euro accession will bring the country considerable benefits. "Our currency has been tied to the Deutsche Mark and then the euro since its creation in 1992," Kadri Uustal, the financial counsellor in the Estonian Permanent Representation to the EU, said on the status quo. "So we don't have the flexibility of our own monetary policy but neither do we have the benefits of being in a bigger club."  [2]

 

 

Regions / Cities

 

- Tallinn

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Enterprise Estonia

Liivalaia 13/15

Tallinn

10118

Estonia

 

 

tel: +372 6 279 700

fax: +372 6 279 427

 

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital of the Republic of Estonia, which lies in Northern Europe, in the northeast of the Baltic sea region. Tallinn is the largest city in the republic and most of the government institutions, embassies and foreign companies are located there. Tallinn is home to 1/3 of the population of Estonia and approximately one half of the country’s economy.

 

The city has seen rapid growth in its electronics industry over the past few years. Foreign companies, such as Elcoteq and Technitrol, are involved in subcontracting for global telecommunication and computing companies and are being encouraged in their activities, so that they may attract investors into the city.

 

The size of the service sector has also increased to its current size , employing around 70% of the working population.

 

Tallinn is home to a large number of colleges and universities such as Tallinn technical University, Tallinn Pedagogical University, Tallinn Higher Technical School and Estonian Marine Education Center.

 

Tallinn is one of the major science centers in the country. The Estonian Academy of Science and 5 science associations are located in the region.

Academic groups in the city have established a number of joint collaboration deals with overseas universities, such as the Tallinn International Center of Environmental Biology of Tallinn Pedagogical Institute working in co-operation with Bowling Green University in the USA.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Enterprise Estonia

Liivalaia 13/15

Tallinn

10118

Estonia

 

 

tel: +372 6 279 700

fax: +372 6 279 427

 

 

 

Macro economic Profile 2008:

Estonia and Latvia have been the greatest economic successes, but even the sun has its spots. They have fixed their exchange rates to the euro. Therefore, their domestic prices have risen with increasing productivity in the export sector, and they have imported substantial inflation—currently 18 percent in Latvia and 12 percent in Estonia.With their fixed exchange rates, these countries cannot pursue any monetary policy, and their huge current account deficits have been financed by foreign direct investment and bank loans. Suddenly, the foreign banks that own the Baltic banks have minimized their loans. Demand, consumption, and real estate prices have fallen. The double-digit growth rates have plummeted to 2 to 3 percent. The question is how large bad debts will be revealed, but so far the Baltic states seem to take the hit well. As in Kazakhstan, their success story is likely to reemerge.

 

 

 

Technololgy

 

 

 

External Links

 

 

Library of Congress: Country Studies

 

Excellent source of historical information about a country; "The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

  1. http://euobserver.com/9/30068
  2. http://euobserver.com/9/30068

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