David Hoffmann
Project Manager, Head of Environmental Reporting Office Estonia
+372 627 6951 david.hoffmann@ahk-balt.org
The AHK has more than 20 years of experience in organising delegation trips to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We regularly organise offers as part of the Energy Export Initiative and the market development programme of the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi).
The Chamber also has extensive expertise in the individual organisation and implementation of trips for federal states, regions, associations, chambers and companies.
These trips comprise an individually tailored and thematically coordinated programme, which can include the following elements:
- Company visits incl. production tours
- Meetings with political decision-makers
- Networking events
- B2B co-operation meetings with Baltic companies
We will be happy to organise an information or business initiation trip for you, which can also include several Baltic countries. Our colleagues are available for you in each country and will accompany the trip on site. We are also happy to organise exciting programme items to complement your training trip to the Baltic states.
Each of the three Baltic states has its strengths:
Tallin, Estonia
Riga, Latvia
Vilnius, Lithuania
Estonia
Estonia is considered a model nation in Europe when it comes to digitalisation and eGovernment. This reputation is more than justified. Around 96.3% of the population declare their income online within a few minutes, 99.6% of bank transactions are processed electronically and 99% of prescriptions are issued online. The Estonian state provides over 2,400 state services online. This benefits companies in particular.
Estonia has the highest number of start-ups per capita in the EU. Many of the ideas are successful. With Skype, Taxify, Transferwise and Playtech, Estonia has produced four large companies whose market value today exceeds one billion euros - the highest ‘unicorn rate’ per capita in the world!
Thematic focus: eGovernment, cyber security, blockchain, eHealth, start-ups.
Latvia
As the centre of the Baltic States, Latvia benefits from an excellent logistical location. With around 700,000 inhabitants, the sophisticated Latvian capital Riga is not only the largest city in the Baltic states, but also their most important trade and service centre.
The most important industrial sectors include wood and paper processing, mechanical engineering and vehicle construction, the food industry (especially milk, meat and fish processing, beverages), textiles and metal production. Latvia has also become increasingly attractive to foreign investors in recent years - more than EUR 350 million was invested by German investors in 2019.
Thematic focus areas: IT services, forestry and agriculture
Lithuania
Lithuania scores highly with its strong industrial sector. All industrial companies find excellent conditions for their activities in the ‘free economic zones’ (fez). For example, automotive supplier Continental opened a state-of-the-art factory near Kaunas on 10 October 2019.
Lithuania is and remains a favourite for outsourcing in Europe due to its favourable framework conditions. But the country is also considered a pioneer when it comes to digitalisation. Blockchain technology in particular deserves a mention here. The ‘Blockchain Centre Vilnius’ offers entrepreneurs from all over the world the opportunity to share their ideas and knowledge. Lithuania is therefore ideally equipped for the future!
Thematic focus areas: Blockchain, Outsourcing