Estonian delegation in Sri Lanka  with focus on business and logistics

By Cheranka Mendis

The Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet is now in Sri Lanka with a 24 member trade delegation to deliberate on strengthening trade ties between the counties and to explore business and investment ventures.

Here for approximately a week, the delegation started its round of talks with a meeting held at the National Chamber of Commerce (NCCSL) last morning.

Of the delegation that arrived with the Minister, the majority of the companies involved are representatives of the logistics cluster, while 10 others are keen on business promotion.

A member of the management board of Pristine OU Pritt Koff who represented the logistics cluster noted that the cluster aims to raise awareness about Estonia as an ideal logistics hub with effective access to a consumer market of 300 million. While the population of the country itself is recorded to be 1.29 million, which alone is not a big enough market, the geographical positioning of the country serves well for Estonians.

Due to its geographically advantageous location on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, deepwater seaports, land bridges to Russia, CIS, Central Asia, Black Sea and the Far East, Estonia is a perfect distribution centre, Koff said. “We serve our neighbouring countries such as Russia, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania, and going further, the Central Europe and CIS zone countries. We have a distinguished delegation representing the entire logistics supply chain management of Estonia.”

Estonian harbours are unique in Europe and there is still plenty of land available for the construction of new terminals, rapid development, and construction of new infrastructure and facilities. Estonian harbours are said to have some of the most modern infrastructure and technology in Europe, while adhering to both the IMO and EU safety rules and regulations. “We have the largest port in the entire Baltic Sea region.”

Koff added that the delegation also represents the leading and most efficient railway operator in Estonia that has maximised operations to allow considerable time saving and cross efficiencies for cross border operations. Estonian Investment Agency Director Kristi Tiivas noted that the country holds the number seven position in conducting international business in the ease of doing business index. “We have a liberal trade and pricing policy which is very open with no restrictions to the free movement of capital. Estonia also has a simple and proportional tax system and is probably the best place to grow quickly as there is 0% corporate income tax.”

Tivvas added: “Our countries share many similarities and we are looking forward to conducting more business operations with Sri Lanka.”

The meeting was chaired by NCCSL President Sunil Wijesinha. Wijesinha acknowledged that Estonia will be an attractive proposition, not only as a consumer, but also as a logistic hub and tourist destination for Sri Lanka. “Traditionally, Sri Lanka’s exports have been mainly to US and Europe. There have been many warning signs due to the overdependence on these markets, and with the recession in Europe and US, many of the exporters finding the market declining.”

Economists are now advising exporters to look for new markets, he stated, adding that while many are now looking at Asia, Europe will still be on the map to sell products that will not have a high demand in Asia. In line with this, local exporters are now looking beyond the traditional European countries towards the Northern European and CIS areas.

“Sri Lanka is very interested in expanding its export markets which have been declining in the past,” he said. “There is now a new concerted effort to look for new markets. Here, Estonia will be an attractive proposition, not only as a consumer but also as a logistic hub and tourist destination.”