Estonian govt to support participation in EXPO if private sector comes in

TALLINN - The government on Thursday decided to support the participation of Estonia in the Dubai EXPO in 2020 if the private sector is prepared to cover half the cost related to the project, spokespeople for the government said.

The Cabinet tasked Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Urve Palo with finding out about the readiness of the private sector to do it.

Also under discussion is opening of an Estonian embassy in the United Arab Emirates. The corresponding application will be filed by the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of entrepreneurship and IT in the course of the drafting of the national budget strategy for 2019-2022.

According to Palo, opening of the embassy will offer better opportunities to support Estonian entrepreneurs.

"Where by participating in the world expo we can rouse interest in Estonia, through continuous work in the region we can provide entrepreneurs with necessary support for expanding to the Gulf economic area, which would raise our exports and increase investments," the minister added.