Economic Development Committee: Business diplomacy to reach new levels
The Economic Development Committee on Tuesday received an overview on visiidid.ee, a website dedicated to planning business visits and sharing information whose active implementation will allow Estonian business diplomacy to be boosted to a new level altogether.
"The purpose of business visits is to introduce Estonia as an attractive destination for foreign investments and a trustworthy export partner, as well as to contribute into concluding the long-term goals of the state," Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre), who also serves as head of the Economic Development Committee, said according to a press release.
Commenting this new initiative, he added that planning foreign visits is an important instrument for realising the global ambitions of Estonian enterprises, supporting and developing entrepreneurship for entering new markets, and bringing investments to Estonia. Ratas hopes that this website for sharing information will see active use by private enterprises and that it provides entrepreneurs an opportunity to expand their operations outside of Estonia.
The online environment visiidid.ee was built by Enterprise Estonia within the framework of the Estonian business diplomacy strategy. It seeks to improve the coordinated development of Estonian foreign trade, which would contribute to a wider export of Estonian enterprises and increase the extent of foreign investments. The website is continuously being updated.
According to Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Rene Tammist (SDE), this new instrument will help to unify the needs and requirements of external communications in the collaboration of private and public sectors.
"Entrepreneurs will have a timely overview on the geographical directions of state business diplomacy, and we can also chart the feedback of entrepreneurs on the external markets of their interest and plan our operations accordingly in a more efficient way," the minister noted. "The website will also increase the number of enterprises who can seek support from the state in expanding to external markets."
The committee also received an overview on including foreign students in the Estonian labour market. For that purpose, information is constantly mediated between employers and international students, university students are being involved in Estonian language classes, and increased focus will be put on introducing Estonian higher education on a global level in fields of the highest demand on the Estonian labour market.
Headed by the prime minister, the Economic Development Committee meets on a monthly basis to receive an overview on the current economic state, find solutions for problems that require collaboration between several ministries, include experts and stakeholders, and develop our economic environment.
The Economic Development Committee includes Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Rene Tammist (SDE), Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps (Centre), Minister of Justice Urmas Reinsalu (Pro Patria), Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson (Centre), Minister of Finance Toomas Tõniste (Pro Patria), Minister of Health and Labour Riina Sikkut (SDE), and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sven Mikser (SDE), and is headed by Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre).
Other ministers participate in the meeting upon invitation by the prime minister in case a topic under discussion requires the presence of a responsible minister. The committee is supported by the Strategy Unit of the Government Office.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla