David Bailey, Chair of the Foreign Investors' Council in Estonia (FICE), opined: "Whilst the parties largely agreed on security, healthcare and doing more to aid businesses, they differed on support for families and attracting skilled migrants."

"Both are sorely needed to maintain momentum in Estonia to continue its economic growth both in the present and future. Support for parents with one or two children is sorely lacking - preferring to rest their hopes on the increased financial support of the Family Benefits Act to persuade families to have three or more children."

"Then these families can receive better financial support, yet this will not convince childless families to have children at all. Concerning migration, disappointingly, there is little indication that the 0.1 percent quota on immigration will be changed anytime soon," Bailey went on, referring to Estonia's own migration quota, which for 2023 is set at 1,307 for 2023.

The quota mostly concerns "third country" nationals, meaning non-EU/EEA and citizens of some other, mainly OECD states.

Exceptions are granted in the case of top specialists, who may come to Estonia to work in the tech and startup sectors, on wages considerably higher than the national average.

Moderator Andreas Kaju also pointed out a paradox relating to this phenomenon whereby, while Estonia seems happy to allow immigration to take up well-paid jobs or for academic study, they tend to want to reserve the lower-paying and unskilled posts for Estonians themselves.

American Chamber of Commerce in Estonia AmCham CEO Daria Sivovol was happy with how the debate had gone overall, saying: "It was an excellent discussion. All the panelists were very open, passionate about their visions and ready to share their thoughts and positions -  exactly what we were aiming for."

 "I am especially glad that all of the topics that we had planned to raise during the debate gained the attention of the speakers, while our members also engaged in a very active debate towards the end of the session."

"We are truly looking forward to the upcoming election, the outcome and the opportunities to work with the new government on all these very important topics," Sivovol added.

The full debate video, including introductions and responses to audience questions, together with a lengthy write-up of some of the main points and questions is here.

The debate took place at the Nordic Forum Hotel, in Tallinn, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, and was organized jointly by AmCham and FICE.

Polling day is Sunday, March 5.

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