Estonia has been identified as one of the easiest countries for investors to do business in by the Investment Promotion Report 2023.
The report, published by Emerging Europe, picked out several factors for this conclusion, including the nation’s ease with electronic systems and infrastructure. “Estonia stands out as a frontrunner, saving an impressive amount of working time annually through e-Estonia,” it explained.
“Ukraine, Moldova and Albania have also experienced significant benefits from e-government, such as economic savings and improved accessibility to public services. Furthermore, governments in emerging Europe are actively pursuing a sustainable digital future, with the European Commission’s vision for 2030 aiming to enhance online access to all key services and prioritise digital identity solutions. The allocation of substantial funds from the Next Generation EU Fund further supports this transformative agenda for the region.”
Emerging Europe pointed to the E-Government Development Index for 2022, produced by the United Nations, which has placed Estonia as eighth in the world and the leading nation within the region.
“In Estonia, the implementation of e-Estonia has yielded impressive results,” said the report. “It saved over 820 years of working time annually for both the state and citizens. Notably, these savings were achieved from just five per cent of queries conducted through X-road – the infrastructure that powers Estonia’s digital society – as reported by e-Estonia in 2017. In 2021, the working hours saved amounted to 3,300 years.”
Ukrainian investment
Elsewhere in the Investment Promotion Report 2023, Sergiy Tsivkach, CEO of UkraineInvest, highlighted how the embattled state has managed to continue attracting investment despite the invasion by Russia in February last year.
“As Ukraine demonstrated resilience against the aggressors attacks during the initial months of the war, businesses started adapting and gradually finding the determination for new projects,” he wrote. “Consequently, we began actively promoting and showcasing investment prospects linked to the future reconstruction process through diverse platforms worldwide.”
Tsivkach added: “Having decided primarily to target investment in such sectors as agri-processing, building materials and furniture, logistics, decarbonisation and green technologies, and transport manufacturing, we managed to attract more than $400m in investments in 2022. We provided support to more than 15 Ukrainian investment projects in finding financing and assisted the launch of more than five new projects by international players.”
