The estonian government will reduce obstacles for foreign investors

The Estonian government will focus more on reducing obstacles hindering foreign investments and on increasing the investment-friendliness of different regions of the country, was decided at yesterday’s meeting of the Economic Development Committee of the government.*

According to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, all Estonian areas have their own economic features and strengths. “It is important for the government to know the developmental preconditions for attracting new fields of entrepreneurship and industrial undertakings into the counties. This will allow us to provide entrepreneurs with necessary information and channel investments and jobs into areas with corresponding strengths,” said Prime Minister Ratas.

There are certain industrial parks in Estonia that are not sufficiently used by entrepreneurship – the hindrances may be related to infrastructure (e.g. issues of electrical energy) or the existence and skills of the local workforce. The Economic Development Committee decided that the Minister of Public Administration in cooperation with Enterprise Estonia would prepare a regional mapping, which would include overviews of the strengths of the counties as well as suggestions for addressing the most significant bottlenecks. The results will be presented to the Economic Development Committee and then to the public in the last quarter of the year.

Providing a competitive price of electricity to energy-intensive enterprises and industries was an additional focus point of the discussion. The Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in cooperation with the Minister of Finance will present suggestions to the committee by the second quarter of next year regarding the ways of lowering the end price of electricity by 10 euros per MWh.

The Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology introduced to the committee plans to promote business diplomacy. In the first half of next year, the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology in cooperation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs will present to the committee an overview of the results achieved within the year as well as the next objectives.

Background

• The Economic Development Committee led by the Prime Minister meets monthly to gain an overview of the economic situation, find solution to issues that need to be coordinated between different ministries, involve experts and stakeholders and engage in the development of the economic environment.
• In addition the Prime Minister, the Economic Development Committee comprises Urve Palo, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology; Mailis Reps, Minister of Education and Research; Urmas Reinsalu, Minister of Justice; Kadri Simson, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure; Toomas Tõniste, Minister of Finance; Jevgeni Ossinovski, Minister of Health and Labour; and Sven Mikser, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
• Other ministers participate in the sessions of the committee upon the invitation of the prime minister if the topic of the session requires the attendance of the minister responsible for the area. The work of the committee is supported by the Strategy Unit of the Government Office.