Analytics, Baltic Export, Estonia, Markets and Companies

According to a study carried out by KPMG Baltics and the Estonian Employers' Confederation, company heads sense that exporting becomes harder with each passing year. "The biggest exporters see a need for a clear development strategy to avoid the average income being stuck for years," said head of consultancy services at KPMG Baltics, Hanno Lindpere.

The survey participants were also critical about the present efficiency of Enterprise Estonia (EAS). "We need to increase the efficiency of EAS and other support structures. In the opinion of employers it would be necessary to improve the professional technical abilities, understanding of main sectors and knowledge of the intricacies of a destination country's distinctive features of consultants, officials and the representatives of people working outside Estonia. Foreign representations supporting entrepreneurs are usually too undermanned to achieve bigger change. We should increase the quantitative and qualitative efficiency of representations which offer support regarding priority destination countries," it is written in the study.

At the same time the majority of entrepreneurs do not support state export support on principle and find that the business sector should manage by itself.

One of the proposals made by the survey participants was setting up a development bank, which would support Estonian companies in case of a need for credit and in cooperation with international financial institutions would offer long-term loans to companies.

The entrepreneurs also saw a need to focus on integrating IT and traditional branches of industry.