The webinar started with a brief introduction by the representatives of the three Investment Agencies – Merike Kaesveld from Estonian Investment Agency, Evita Nedzvecka from Invest Latvia, and Darius Budrys, the Commercial Attache of the Republic of Lithuania to the Kingdom of Norway.
During the first presentation by Zanda Vipule from Gateway & Partners, the audience received a comprehensive overview of the main facts about the New Nordic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and their export and import ties with and to Norway. Vipule also gave a more in-depth overview of the Norwegian-Estonian business relations and investment history and mentioned which Norwegian companies have done the biggest investments in Estonia in 2019.
The second part of the webinar was a panel discussion and experience sharing between Nils Stray, Business Development Manager at Techano, Lauritz Skeide, CEO at Norpartners, and Hans Petter Thomassen, Managing Director at Kitron who all have a long relationship with doing business in the New Nordics.
Hans Petter Thomassen recalled that when Kitron opened its business in Lithuania back in the 1999’s it was merely cost driven, but now they see the perks of a great geographical location which gives great ability to serve the Central European market in the electronic world from Lithuania. „Also, we have an efficient and quality driven production in the region with young and educated talent pool,“ he added. Lauritz Skeide added that the accessibility from Norway to any of the three New Nordic countries is easy effort-less, which makes managing the local bodies easy.
Nils Stray emphasized that the New Nordcis area good place to establish your business and to get a smooth start it’s beneficial to get in contact with local partners. “Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise Estonia both were quite helpful and also the generous programs of grants that could be beneficial support,” shared Stray his experience with Estonia.
Lauritz Skeide added that partnering with a local network and establishing a joint-venture would give the most important outcome – strong local management. Thomassen concluded the discussion by saying that entering the Baltic region was by far the easiest from other places around the world where Kitron has established its entity.
For more information please contact Estonian Investment Agency’s Director of Business Development in Norway – Merike Kaesveld. The Estonian Investment Agency (EIA), part of Enterprise Estonia, is a government agency promoting foreign investments in Estonia and assisting international companies finding their business opportunities in Estonia.
Merike’s role is to help Norwegian investors to start their business in Estonia. This includes comprehensive, one-stop investment consultancy services and she will help you find the best business opportunities and help you grow & expand. Merike will contact the businesses, organize the visits, negotiate with the authorities and assist you further after the investment. You will be in good hands as Merike has over 20 years of experience leading several reputable Nordic companies as CEO and Country manager while she lived and worked in Estonia.
Watch the webinar here:
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