The UK is a key trade partner for Estonia, and the new project is part of a programme to further increase the foreign direct investment to and from Estonia, and in particular to help Estonian SMEs to export their products and services into the UK. The project is funded via the NextGenerationEU recovery fund– a measure designed to enable EU countries to emerge stronger from the pandemic and to help transform EU economies and societies.
His Excellency Mr Viljar Lubi, Estonian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said:
“Estonia and the UK are close allies with strong ties between our two countries. We continue strengthening our relations, and trade partnerships and cooperation provide an excellent opportunity for this. UK is one of our priority countries and we believe there is a high growth potential for Estonia’s products and services export to the UK. Also, considering that Estonia has the highest number of unicorns per capita in Europe, in addition to being one of the best business environments in the world, we welcome British companies to take advantage of our possibilities and expand their businesses to Estonia. I’m certain that Estonia’s UK trade strategy will support and help benefit both countries and further enhance our excellent relations.“
Stefan Haase, Director and Tech & Innovation Lead at Whitecap Consulting, said:
“Over recent years we have worked with a number of Estonian tech companies and have also spent time in Estonia on client projects and at international tech events such as Latitude59. I have consistently been highly impressed with the entrepreneurs I have met in the region, as well as the support and focus that is placed on growing the country’s economy via technology and innovation. There is much that the UK can learn from Estonia, and I’m delighted that Whitecap has the opportunity to help support this ambitious trade strategy between these two countries.”
The programme of work being undertaken by the Whitecap team is part of the Estonian RRF Reform – a measure designed to support the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets. The objective of the measure is to increase the export capacity and competitiveness of Estonian companies, notably for SMEs. It will consider the opportunity in high growth sector including Modular Building, Smart Mobility, ICT, Personal Medicine & HealthTech, FinTech, EdTech, Cyber, DeepTech/AI, and GreenTech/CleanTech. Over the coming weeks and months, Whitecap will consult with UK organisations in these sectors to help gauge the appetite and opportunity for collaboration with Estonian organisations.
The project has three core aims:
- Develop export strategies to UK, marketing support and digital solutions to accelerate export into the UK and foreign direct investment into Estonia.
- Establish business centres in the UK as a space for meetings and events that contribute to the promotion of Estonian companies and attract foreign investors.
- Promote Estonian products and services (from the ICT sector in particular) through physical, virtual or hybrid missions and events.
Estonia aims to reach 1 billion Euros of exports to the UK by 2027, primarily in high value products and services. One of the key outputs of the project will be to develop a time bound roadmap to achieve this goal.
Any UK organisations interested to participate in the project should contact [email protected]