Rise and Shine Estonia: How to Make the Best of the Recovery
29.01.2010Investment conference 29.01.2010
It is a great pleasure to deliver this opening speech at this investment conference with such an inspiring name. Rise and shine Estonia! The title of my presentation today was suggested to be about what Estonian government is doing for the economy to recover. True, there is no other priority for the government than to do its utmost in order to help Estonian economy to get back to its growth track again. Especially for the minister of economic affairs, this is the question, the challenge that has been guiding my work.
Of course, there is something I’d like to be clear about from the beginning. Everybody is looking towards the government during tough times and this is justified by any means. Government has many instruments that can be used for reigniting the economy and bringing it out from the crisis. However, I must stress that it is not government who can create new competitive jobs, it is not government who can increase exports and it is not government who can start-up new fast growing companies. This was a different system at a different time when everything was done only by the government. We need entrepreneurs, free markets and innovative spirit to really overcome these challenges!
Still, even if I admit that government cannot directly tackle the current challenges I am not saying that government should stay passive. We have not been passive in Estonia! Bad government can be a disaster to the economy, so there is a definite need for leadership and vision from the government. The first and the foremost responsibility for the government is to make sure that businesses can enjoy a competitive environment, which is nurturing their abilities and making it possible to become more competitive, to grow and to create new quality jobs.
Government needs to understand the needs of companies and be flexible enough to react to the changing environment by adjusting its policies according to the new needs. In contrast, there are also things (like taxes) where we need to be conservative and if something needs to be changed, the decisions need to be based on quality studies and calculations.
24.11.2009 Estonia signed investment protection agreement with Georgia
28.08.2009 The Government authorised the installation of submarine cable Estlink2
