Enterprise Estonia chairman: State should support rural entrepreneurs
Enterprise Estonia's new chairman told ETV's Aktuaalne kaamera (AK) on Monday that the state should offer support to rural entrepreneurs and .
Speaking on his first day in the job at Enterprise Estonia (EAS), Peeter Raudsepp discussed the problems rural enterprises have when trying to obtaining loans. Raudsepp said in many cases state aid is definitely necessary in order to obtain a loan guarantee.
"This is important because we cannot imagine Estonia as having everything in Tallinn. From the point of view of the state and the people, it is necessary that jobs and services cover the whole country," he said.
In Raudsepp's opinion, the assistance of EAS is not enough. "We need to work better with other organizations like Kredex to find measures to secure investment opportunities or guarantees," he said.
Raudsepp, who was previously a senior manager in the private sector, has led large companies ETK Hulk, K-Rauta and Eesti Post.
After his new position was announced last week he said EAS should not be involved in providing support to companies. On Monday, he confirmed to AK studio that there was a place for reflection on whether and how to continue supporting businesses.
"By distributing grants, there is a risk that if they end up in the wrong company, we will support bad entrepreneurship. When a very good business idea is in place, life has shown that the entrepreneur can raise the money he needs for the investment himself. he spoke.
Raudsepp said EAS also takes risks when distributing grants, but these must be considered risks. It must also be considered whether EAS needs such a large network of foreign representations, he added.
"Enterprise Estonia has three major areas: tourism, attracting foreign investment and increasing export earnings. The goal is to bring more money to Estonia and to grow the economy. Foreign missions support this goal, but I don't think it should be as static as it is today. As everything in the world economy changes, we must go along with it, and it is quite possible that changes need to be made here," he said.
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Editor: Helen Wright