On meetings with Estonian businesses and during my visits abroad, I hear delightful stories about friends, who have helped our companies and businessmen to establish new contacts and to grow their activities across the world.
I would like to thank you all for that kind co-operation. You play an extensive role in the advancement of Estonian economy. Thank You!
The recent times have been harsh on the economy across the world. Supply chain issues, fast inflation and rising interest rates describe most of our trading partners.
The overall situation in the economy, however, is still relatively solid, but we have to think of how to increase the competitiveness and exports in the future to direct the economy back to the growth path that we saw during previous years.
Estonian economy is very flexible and we have witnessed the downside of that recently. On one hand the blast of the energy prices passed through into final goods prices very fast, but on the other hand we also saw that changing financial conditions in Scandinavia and Northern America are already affecting our exports as the demand abroad has weakened on markets outside the eurozone.
Increasing prices and production costs are going to affect price competitiveness, but cheap production should not be our target anyway. We have to work on new strengths for the economy.
I believe in the technology sector and its’ endless possibilities to export. Estonia is already a front-runner as a digital economy, but it is not enough. The same passion, which has brought along successful apps and startups, must be used to strengthen research and innovation. This will bring along new advantages and stronger competitiveness.
However, in order to realise these possibilities, we have to create opportunities to the small tech companies. We have to feed them with contacts and create connections, which they are eager to grasp to gain new contracts and growth.
Estonia has had a great adventure of digital economy, but this success story has to be taken to the next level by increasing the sophistication of firms and bringing more science and research into business.
Connections and friends are not important for international trade only. The ECB and IMF have expressed their worries, that recent fast inflation has increased mark-ups across Europe. It is probably the same here. I do not believe that governments could order companies to lower prices, but I expect the market to react. Higher mark-ups mean that entering the market is even more rewarding than it used to be in the past. Estonia has a very good business environment and if you think about expanding your business, then do it in Estonia.
Dear friends, I can not avoid the topic of Ukraine. Our job is to ensure that Ukraine wins the war and expels Russian troops from its soil. This is the necessary condition to ensure peace in Europe.
However, we must also think about the future and help Ukraine to integrate into the Free World, the European Union and NATO. Public sector can foster these developments, but private sector plays the most important role in integrating Ukraine to the common European market. It also provides extraordinary opportunities for companies to grow their markets and production capabilities.
There is no doubt that the future surprises us with new challenges, but it is always nicer and more productive to face these challenges with good friends.
I thank you and wish you a nice stay here in Kadriorg and Tallinn.
