Estonia - Future Facing Financial Center
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Estonia is an emerging Nordic country with a strong, stable economy and an AA- credit rating, actively engaging in international cooperation through memberships in the EU, NATO, and OECD. It has a rapidly growing economy, with significant foreign direct investment and a competitive business environment supported by a simple tax system and advanced technological infrastructure. The financial sector is robust, having shown resilience during economic crises, and is increasingly recognized for its innovation in financial technology, establishing Estonia as a major player in the Northern European financial landscape.
Estonia - Future Facing Financial Center
- 1. ESTONIA – FUTURE FACING FINANCIAL CENTER
- 2. Credit Rating AA- An emerging Nordic country with a stable economy. Source: S&P Foreign Direct Investment (% of GDP) Estonia 7.4% EU Average 1.8% An attractive site for foreign investment. Source: World Bank International memberships EU, OECD, NATO, Eurozone A developed economy that activiely participates in international co-operation. Freedom index 11 A high level of economic freedom promotes growth and innovation. Source: Heritage Estonia with the population of 1,3 milllion people and area of 45 230 square kilometers is among the least densely populated countries in the world. Estonia's neighboring countries are Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Russia. Capital of Estonia is Tallinn with 400 000 inhabitants. Source: Eesti Statistika
- 3. 3 With a total population of 1.3 million and a GDP of 17.4 billion euro, Estonia is a relatively small Nordic country with outstanding economic freedom, remarkable and rapid development, and a stable economy that implements e-solutions. As it is for a smaller fish, the key to survival for a smaller country lies in the ability to swim faster and adapt quickly to a changing environment. Estonia has put notable effort into developing a competitive and stable business environment. The outcomes of these endeavors is demonstrated in numerous facts, figures, and global indices. The Estonian economy rests upon a solid foundation, with the rule of law strongly bolstered and enforced by an independent and efficient judicial system. A simplified tax system with flat rates and low indirect taxation, a competitive banking sector, openness to foreign investment, and a historically liberal trade regime all support the resilient and well-functioning economy. Why Estonia? Let the facts and numbers speak for themselves!
- 4. 4 Despite its comparatively small size, Estonia is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, with GDP growth of 7.6% in 2011, 3.2% in 2012 and 0.8% in 2013, in contrast to the respective EU 27 performance of 1.5%, -0.3% and 0.1% Estonia was among a group of ten countries incorporated into the European Union on 1 May 2004 and adopted the Euro in January 2011. It depicts the lowest level of sovereign debt to GDP in the EU, at 10% versus an 87% average for EU 27 (2013). Estonian has a government committed to balanced budgets, and has an AA- credit rating. Estonia benefits from its strategic location at the intersection of the European, Nordic and Russian markets, providing a unique set of trade, language and cultural linkages. Its strategic location and business-friendly environment mean Estonia is increasingly used as a base from which to access some of the world’s largest and most advanced markets. These include the EU thanks to the harmonized legal environment and Euro currency; Russia thanks to language skills and geographic proximity and the Nordic region due to long-standing trade and cultural linkages. The economy is highly flexible, open to international capital and trade flows and supported by a modern business infrastructure. Opportunities provided by Estonia’s business environment and role as a gateway to growth will drive further investment and deeper regional linkages. Fact 1: Emerging Nordic country with a strong and stable economy AA- Estonian has a government committed to balanced budgets, and has an AA- credit rating. Source:Eurostat. 75 7 80 7 83 6 62 5 85 10 87 10 Public Debt; % of GDP EU 27 Estonia 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
- 5. 5 Long-standing trade, cultural and language linkages are complemented by a modern day shared business culture, rule of law and integrated financial supervision, telecoms and energy systems. Exports Imports Sweden 16.74 (#1) 10.39 (#2) Finland 16.34 (#2) 15.2 (#1) Norway 3.63 (#7) 0.73 (#22) Denmark 2.26 (#11) 1.71 (#14) Estonia’s Foreign Trade Flows; % of total; 2013 % of total; 2013 Sweden (#1) 26.6 Finland (#2) 21.9 Norway (#4) 5.6 Denmark (#8) 2.6 Source: Statistics Estonia, Bank of Estonia. Estonia’s FDI Inflow
- 6. Ease of Doing Business Trading Across Borders Burden of Government Regulation Denmark 5 Sweden 6 Finland 4 Norway 9 Estonia 7 Estonia 11 Finland 12 Denmark 8 Sweden 22 Sweden 14 Finland 9 Germany 56 Lithuania 17 Germany 14 Norway 62 Germany 21 Latvia 17 Latvia 79 Estonia 22 Norway 26 Denmark 101 Latvia 24 Lithuania 15 Lithuania 107 Poland 45 Poland 49 Poland 133 6 Fact 2: Great business environment with a simple and transparent flat-rate tax system Estonia scores consistently high as business-friendly environment. It ranks #22 globally in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index thanks to its business friendly policy-making and low levels of red tape, and #3 in terms of countries with small populations. More importantly, within this index it ranks as the #7 best global location for “trading across borders”. Source: World Bank, Ease of Doing Business 2012 & WEF, Global Competitiveness Report 2013–2014. (189 countries were evaluated) (189 countries were evaluated) (148 countries were evaluated) Estonian Business Environment; diverse global indices; ranking The 2013 Index of Economic Freedom ranked Estonia 13th out of 177 countries in the world and 4th out of 43 countries in the European region. Recording the sixth largest score increase in the 2013 Index, Estonia continues to be a global leader in economic freedom. Source: The Heritage Foundation. Estonia ranked #13 in the Global Economic Freedom Index 2013 #13
- 7. Tax rates; %; 2013 Dividends Capital gain Withholding tax Estonia 21 0/21 0/10 Lithuania 15 15 0/10 Denmark 27 25 25 Norway 0 29 0 Latvia 0/15 15 5/15 Poland 19 19 20 Finland 24.5 24.5 24.5 Germany 25 15 15 Sweden 30 22 0 7 Source: EY, KPMG, Deloitte. Estonia ranked in a high 3rd place in the 2013 Basel Anti-Money Laundering Index, which ranks countries by laundering/ terrorist financing risk. The 2013 Basel AML Index covers 149 countries. Estonia is among the countries with the least money laundering financial risk, along with Norway, Slovenia and Finland. Corporate tax of 21% is payable only on the distribution of profits and is 0% at all other times.0% Business environment is supported by a simple, transparent and stable flat-rate tax system, which encourages long-term value creation. There is no tax on retained profits, no capital gains tax, no withholding tax on interest or dividends and numerous double taxation avoidance treaties, facilitating efficient flows. Source: Transparency International.
- 8. 8 Fact 3: Technologically advanced business platform with exceptional world class solutions Estonia benefits from a modern business and technological infrastructure. It ranks among the most wired and technologically advanced countries in the world. It marries world class IT skills with innovation and is a home for cutting edge E-Government, cloud computing, financial technology and cyber security solutions. Estonia is the location of NATO’s Cyber Defense Center of Excellence and the European Union Agency for Large-Scale IT Systems. With a high Internet penetration rate and widespread e-commerce and e-government services, Estonia has become a model for free Internet access as a development engine. For instance, registering a company in Estonia can be executed online in just minutes. Networked Readiness Infrastructure & Digital Content IT Skills Finland 1 Finland 2 Finland 1 Sweden 3 Norway 3 Sweden 10 Norway 5 Sweden 4 Denmark 18 Denmark 8 Germany 10 Germany 19 Germany 13 Denmark 14 Norway 27 Estonia 22 Estonia 22 Lithuania 29 Lithuania 32 Lithuania 33 Estonia 30 Latvia 41 Poland 38 Poland 47 Poland 49 Latvia 47 Latvia 54 Source: WEF, Global IT Report 2013. (144 countries were evaluated) (144 countries were evaluated)(144 countries were evaluated) Estonian Technological Platform; diverse global indices; ranking Estonia ranks #22 in the Global IT Report. #22
- 9. 9 Fact 4: Bright people with outstanding language, finance and IT skills Estonia possesses a skilled workforce with strong competences in languages, finance and IT. Estonian workers are also recognised for their commitment and value added, ranking #8 for Pay & Productivity in the Global Competitiveness Report. Following recent reforms, Estonia also benefits from a highly efficient labour market with flexible regulations and low levels of unionisation. Estonian, the official language of Estonia, belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family and is closely related to Finnish. Other languages that are widely spoken and understood in Estonia include Finnish, English, Russian, and German. Labour Market Efficiency Pay & Productivity Quality of Math & Science Education Estonia 12 Estonia 8 Finland 2 Denmark 13 Lithuania 14 Lithuania 16 Norway 14 Latvia 20 Germany 21 Sweden 18 Germany 42 Estonia 26 Finland 20 Poland 45 Latvia 33 Latvia 26 Denmark 52 Sweden 41 Germany 41 Finland 57 Denmark 42 Lithuania 69 Sweden 74 Norway 47 Poland 80 Norway 84 Poland 69 Source: WEF, Global Competitiveness Report 2013–14. (148 countries were evaluated) (148 countries were evaluated) (148 countries were evaluated) Estonian Labor Market; diverse global indices; ranking Ranking #8 for Pay & Productivity in the Global Competitiveness Report.#8
- 10. 10 Why Estonian financial sector? Stability and sustainability Estonia has a strong and stable financial sector characterized by zero failures during the financial crisis. It portrays notable Nordic and German influence. Joining the Euro-zone in 2011 affirmed the strength of Estonia’s institutions and legislation. Already pre-2008 crisis Estonian bank capital buffers were close to Basel III requirements exceeding the EU27 average. Estonia benefits from a single regulatory authority, ensuring participants benefit from clarity of policy, short lines of communication and minimized time and cost in ensuring compliance. Moreover, Estonia is integrated with EU and Nordic regulatory bodies, facilitating passporting to other European Economic Area (EEA) states. In addition to established Banking, Insurance, Private Equity and Advisory industries, Estonia has a stock exchange (NASDAQ OMX) and expertise in niches such as Funds, International Private Banking, Financial Technology and Treasury & Shared Services. Fund assets under management (AUM) doubled between 2009 and 2012 exceeding 4bn EUR today, and private banking AUM experienced a healthy growth of 19% in 2013. Furthermore Estonia is home for 40 world class Treasury & Shared Service Centres like Statoil Fuel & Retail, SEB Wealth Management, Konecranes, Kühne+Nagel. The local start-up landscape or “start- up mafia” as the Economist puts it is gaining increasing global recognition with leading financial technology players like Transferwise and Fortumo. Estonia is becoming the Silicon Valley of Northern Europe. Year Size of financial sector (% of GDP) 3,2% 2013 No of employees in financial sector 10 200 2012 Capital depth (% of GDP) 98% 2013 Capital markets to bank loans 15% 2013 Share of foreign capital to stock market 42% 2013 Estonian financial sector overview
- 11. FOCUS AREAS ACTIVITIES Financial Sector Development Financial Services Export Capital markets International Private Banking Treasury & Shared Services Funds Financial Technology Human Capital FinanceEstonia is a public-private financial sector cluster organisation with the aim of increasing member companies business opportunities enhancing the development of financial sector in globalisation, supporting innovation and increasing capital availability. 11 What is FinanceEstonia? Public-Private Partnership FinanceEstonia is a public-private financial sector cluster organisation with the aim of increasing member companies business opportunities enhancing the development of financial sector in globalisation, supporting innovation and increasing capital availability. As Estonia’s largest cluster, with 60 companies and co-operative partners gathered under one roof FinanceEstonia has emerged to an influential voice for the Estonian financial sector in both domestic and foreign markets.
- 12. 12 For additional information please contact: www.financeestonia.eu Krõõt Kilvet CEO +372 5020 899 [email protected] FinanceEstonia aims to raise awareness of Estonia’s financial sector advantages in two focus areas: financial markets and service export and in six priority niches: Corporate Treasury and Shared Service Centres, Financial Technology, Fund Services, International Private Banking, Capital Markets and Human Resources. By developing Estonian financial sector and introducing Estonia to international markets, FinanceEstonia enables new business opportunities in Estonia, creation of new jobs and improved access to capital especially for small and medium sized enterprises. FinanceEstonia and its members can provide assistance in getting appropriate market information, setting benchmarks to support informed decision making and provide location and recruitment services to ensure smooth market entry. FinanceEstonia and its members have crucial information and valuable contacts to help your business expand in and to Estonia and to international markets. FinanceEstonia collaborates closely with Estonian government and Enterprise Estonia in introducing Estonian financial sector to potential investors and supporting stable development of financial sector. With a staff of qualified professionals, extensive experience in the financial and shared service industries and a broad network of contacts FinanceEstonia understands your challenges and can provide you with practical assistance.
- 14. 14 PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS PUBLIC & ASSOCIATIONS SUPPORT SERVICES COLLABORATION PARTNERS FinanceEstonia is public-private cluster initiative. It’s activities are financed by membership fees and European Regional Development Fund. Banks Association bridging the gaps
- 16. MTÜ FinanceEstonia Rotermanni 8; Tallinn 10111; Estonia Phone: +372 616 1100 E-mail: [email protected] CONTACT