Baltic countries must
stop silly cock-fighting

Tõnis Tamme, attorney and a partner of pan-Baltic alliance of commercial law firms TRINITI writes about how the Baltic countries could and should cooperate better for the common good.

One can often hear ambitious words in Estonia – that the real opportunities of our enterprises for the next decades are related to China, India, South-East Asia and other far-away markets. Indeed, the global economic crisis made Baltic enterprises adopt a wider view of export markets than before. It was a positive change for the small economy of the economic boom period, as it had been too focused on domestic consumption. On the other hand it’s not probable that the exotic markets would be the driving force carrier of the economies of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia in near future. Rather, the much-discussed globalisation stage entails regionalisation, resulting in widening those mental borders that we perceive to determine “our” home market.

No ground for snobbism
The competition among the Baltic States for the name of the “best port” for foreign investments is growing. All three countries have their own perceivable and developed advantages – Lithuania has the largest domestic market, Latvia is logistically in the centre of the region and Estonia has pulled somewhat ahead of others with the structure of its economy and key figures.

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