From 6 to 8 May, an Estonian business delegation is visiting the state of Saxony in Germany with the President of Estonia. The visit will include several business seminars, visits to local business organisations and the Estonian company Nortal office as well as the soon-to-be-completed Skeleton factory.
“Estonian companies have a lot going on in Saxony – Skeleton has a new factory under construction here, which is the largest industrial investment in Germany by an Estonian company, Nortal has opened a new office, and Praktikal has just established a joint venture in education technology with a local partner,” Estonian Ambassador to Germany Marika Linntam said, emphasising that there is potential to further improve business ties.
“Prefabricated timber houses and industrial renovation, as well as new energy, defence and digital solutions currently form the most promising bridge in the economic relations between the two countries.”
Marika Linntam, Estonian Ambassador to Germany
Germany is Estonia’s fifth most important export market, and the export of services to Germany has increased considerably. “Germany is both a big market and a strategic investor for Estonian entrepreneurs. The German government is investing heavily in both physical and digital infrastructure, and this also creates new opportunities for our businesses. Technology and innovation have a prominent place in our cooperation. For example, Saxony is one of the most important chip production centres in Europe,” the ambassador said.
Land-based megaprojects create cooperation opportunities for Insta Globe Engineering
According to her, the share of products with high added value was increasing in Estonian exports. “Prefabricated timber houses and industrial renovation, as well as new energy, defence and digital solutions currently form the most promising bridge in the economic relations between the two countries,” Linntam said.
Insta Globe Engineering, an Estonian electrical installation company with a global reach, is also participating in the business delegation. “Germany is the heart of engineering, and Saxony is a region with many major industrial projects where we see opportunities for offering our service,” Business Development Manager Erko Elblaus said, citing the Chips for Europe initiative and green hydrogen projects as examples. So far, the company has focused on projects in the shipping sector in Germany, but large-scale investments in land-based megaprojects create interesting cooperation opportunities for the company.
According to Elblaus, the goal is to find partners among local engineering and industrial companies, and a high-level state visit is a good opportunity for that. “We participate in such visits quite often, and when a senior state representative is attending, introducing and supporting Estonian companies, it gives us credibility in the eyes of our local partners and helps us stand out,” he said.
Gofore Group: Pioneering collaborative solutions in e-Governance
A subsidiary of the Finnish-based Gofore Group operating in Estonia and focusing on business development is also participating in the visit. “We have been operating as a group in Germany for almost ten years and have carried out several influential projects. For example, we have helped the German Traffic Administration, the Bavarian Ministry of Digital Affairs and Deutsche Bahn with digitalisation. In the private sector, our primary focus is on industrial companies,” Helen Roosimägi, International Business Development Procurement Lead at Gofore Estonia, said.
“Our goal is to build long-term collaborative relationships in areas such as e-governance, the digitalisation of infrastructure, and the development of artificial intelligence and cloud services. State-supported visits offer a great opportunity for this.”
Helen Roosimägi, International Business Development Procurement Lead at Gofore Estonia
Having a presence in Saxony, where public sector innovation and the digitalisation of industry are actively supported, is also important for Gofore, which provides integrated solutions for IT services. “Our goal is to build long-term collaborative relationships in areas such as e-governance, the digitalisation of infrastructure, and the development of artificial intelligence and cloud services. State-supported visits offer a great opportunity for this,” Roosimägi said.
The business delegation visiting the state of Saxony also includes Nortal, Praktikal Education, Proekspert, NOTE Pärnu, CGI Eesti, ADM Interactive and the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce.
The visit will include the opening of an Estonian-German collaborative art exhibition entitled Spiegel im Spiegel. It was produced in cooperation between the Dresden State Art Collections and the Art Museum of Estonia as a tribute to the 90th birthday of maestro Arvo Pärt.
The visit takes place in cooperation between the Office of the President of the Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Estonian Embassy, the Enterprise Estonia and the Ministry of Culture.
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