Baltics as a Business Location for Information Technology and Electronics Industries

摘要

This study examines the current state of the ICT and electronics industries in the three Baltic States. In doing this, it implicitly highlights the opportunities for co-operation between Baltic and Finnish firms. The study consists of three parts: 1 a sector analysis of the industry, 2 a review of the education and research system in the field under consideration, and 3 an analysis of the business culture and the business environment. The first section is based on extensive surveys among ICT and electronics enterprises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It sheds light on the following areas:the size and the growth prospects of the ICT and electronics industries, their focus of production and core competence, the significance of exports and subcontracting as well as the prevailing interest in Finland. Higher education is examined from the perspective of the availability of workforce; research from that of innovation capacity. Finally, the report discusses the qualities of Baltic employees, specialities of the local business culture and appropriate ways to approach a Baltic company.