Ratas encourages Norwegian companies to invest in Estonia

TALLINN – Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas on Tuesday introduced to more than a dozen Norwegian companies and representatives of entrepreneurship organizations Estonia as a country with a strong banking sector, budget policy and a simple business environment that is worthy of investments.

The prime minister said that Estonia shares common values with the Nordic states and the business ties between the countries are longstanding and stable.

"This is difficult to underestimate. I hope that this experience will show that one can invest in Estonia with a peaceful heart. Our current account is at a surplus, the banks have a lot of capital, the budget is in balance and debt burden is low. Our economy, gross domestic product is growing for the ninth year in a row already," Ratas said when encouraging Norwegian entrepreneurs to invest in Estonia.

However, the prime minister emphasized that Estonia's greatest asset is the people here. "I know that one of the more serious bottlenecks for entrepreneurs right now is the shortage of workers. We are dealing with it. But companies must also think about more technology-intensive business models," he said.

Norway is a significant export destination country for Estonia, with whom the trade balance is strongly positive and Estonia is ranked 11-12th among trade partners. Norwegian entrepreneurs invest mainly in the Estonian professional, research and technical activity with 42 percent, retail and wholesale with 24 percent and real estate with 14 percent.

The meeting with Norwegian investors took place in cooperation with the Enterprise Estonia foundation.