I am pleased that today’s conference showcases the strengths of our economy. A strong start-up and tech business community is a testament to the good economic policy choices made in the past, demonstrating that our economy is resilient and the business environment empowers new enterprises.
Despite issues in the traditional fields of economy, the start-up sector has continued to grow and now contributes an increasing share of our GDP. Several companies that started as start-ups, including Bolt, Wise, Pipedrive and Skype, are now among the largest taxpayers in Estonia, and the economy is truly shaped by start-up enterprises.
In the past five years, crises such as COVID, disrupted supply chains, Putin’s war in Ukraine, and complex geopolitics have made our world challenging.
During crises, it may seem easy to talk about competitiveness in strong terms, supporting local businesses and imposing restrictions on others. However, we must not forget that for the real improvement in living standards.
Our companies need to be able to produce complex goods and services that ensure a modern standard of living. While restrictions may sometimes be necessary, they alone will never achieve this.
With a background in science, I believe that the growth potential of the European and Estonian economy greatly depends on how well we can implement discoveries made in universities and research institutions.
If Europe cannot compete with the cheap production in Asia, we need to do things differently and tackle more complex challenges – to achieve this, we need to apply new technologies and scientific discoveries.
We should not stop at merely inventing technologies and products; we must find ways to integrate new technology into traditional industries. Instead of selling licenses overseas, we should seek partners in Europe to grow even more. The technology sector can empower manufacturing and thereby build a stronger European economy.
These are the areas where you have a significant role to play... start-ups, investors, business angels... Europe needs tech-minded entrepreneurs like you who can use their knowledge and capital gained from the digital and app boom to turn ideas developed in universities into market-ready products. But it does not end there.
Politicians and leaders are often expected to provide answers, but the real answers are in your minds and need to be voiced by you. You have an important role in contributing ideas on how to build a better state. Therefore, I have a few questions for you and I hope you to answer these during the conference.
- What should we do differently in education to enhance the transition of employees from traditional industries into the technology sector?
- What regulations should we change to adopt AI-based solutions?
- How can data protection be developed to make personalized services to evolve more quickly?
- What private sector data resources could the government use to shape a better school network?
- How can we create environmentally friendly products that can conquer the world and displace today's fossil fuel-based energy and chemical industries?
I hope that after fruitful discussions and answering the questions (and not only this ones), you will also have great time in Tallinn, will make new friends and start new companies.
Thank you!
