BMW has signed an agreement with the Estonian-founded tech company NOW! Innovations, a new strategic partner for providing mobile payment and billing solutions.

BMW plans to extend the scope of its mobile parking service beyond parking garages to include on-street parking as well. The service, ParkNow, allows users to reserve and pay for their parking place in advance.

"The integration of on-street parking is a major step in creating a one-stop parking experience," Joachim Hauser, Director of BMW Mobility Services, said in the press release.

NOW! Innovations is a global provider of mobile payment and billing solutions operating on three continents and in eight countries.

The company has developed a flexible and easy-to-use billing and payment platform for parking services.

Spending on research and development in 2011 increased to 2.41 percent of GDP in 2011, exceeding the EU average - 2.03 percent - for the first time.

Statistics Estonia revealed that the country has increased its investments into research and development to 384.5 million euros in 2011, a two-thirds increase over 2010. Investments into developing technologies in the shale oil industry accounted for one-third of the sum.

Not including the oil refining sector, private sector R&D spendng increased 29 percent faster than in the non-profit-seeking institutional sector. Taken together with the oil industry, growth doubled.

Read more at ERR

Amidst ongoing discussions on the Eurozone crisis and just a few days after the publication of the European Commission’s Annual Growth Survey.

The latest edition of EUROCHAMBRES’ Economic Survey (EES) – carried out among 53,000 businesses from 26 countries – reveals that business confidence is at the lowest level since 1993, with companies in almost 2 out of 3 countries registering pessimism about the year ahead.

The enduring nature of the economic downturn is confirmed by predictions for employment, investment and domestic sales, which remain at similar levels to 2012. It is clear that businesses do not envisage a swift recovery and the overall sentiment is that 2013 is set to be another tough year.

These results should prompt a strong reaction from policy makers at EU and national level.

The economy cannot be turned around quickly, but key short-term measures to restore financial market liquidity are achievable, such as effective loan guarantee schemes, wider access to public procurement and tackling the on-going problem of late payments. Beyond this, we must underpin European businesses’ export optimism through practical support for intra-EU and third country trade and economic policies that ensure the competiveness of our goods and services.

Another critical factor lies in the negotiations for the 2014-2020 EU Budget. Member states largely seem not to acknowledge that a workable EU Budget is a critical element in the delivery of the Europe 2020 Strategy for Growth and Jobs.

Heads of State must resist the temptation for political posturing over the EU Budget and instead focus on better spending. In the current economic climate, it’s imperative that every euro of public money is spent smartly and contributes to the pursuit of growth and jobs. This includes strong EU actions to stimulate innovation, enhance skills and improve conditions for SMEs.

A robust EU Budget is a vital ingredient in converting laudable objectives and ambitious targets into tangible economic and social improvements.

EUROCHAMBRES Economic Survey 2013 is available here

This report is the third in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 47 countries that occurred between January 2011 and May 2012.

For more information visit Freedom House

One of Tallinn's most high-profile technology business centers, the Tehnopol Science Park, opened a new incubator on August 14 aimed specifically at helping fledgling tech companies get off the ground.

The Tehnopol Startup Incubator offers 800 square meters of office space, meeting rooms and demo rooms - enough to accommodate 16 new enterprises and a total of 60 people, Tehnopol said in a release.

In addition to the physical facilities, the startups will have access to training sessions and networking events.

Tehnopol board member Pirko Kontsa said that, as global experience has shown, being located in the same space creates synergies between companies, which in turn has generated some of the world's best business concepts.

The rate of use of internet banking services by residents of Estonia is more than one-third higher than the EU average and Estonians are also significantly more frequent readers of news on the web, it appears from a recent study on cyber security by Eurobarometer.

Users of internet banking make up 85 percent of the population in Estonia, compared with 48 percent in the EU on average. As regards readers of news online, the ratios are 87 percent in Estonia and 64 percent in EU countries on average.

Estonian residents are also somewhat more frequent of users of e-mail than people in other EU member states, the ratios being respectively 89 percent and 85 percent.

When it comes to buying goods and services on the internet, with 46 percent, Estonia is lagging behind the EU average of 53 percent.

Users who most often access the internet when they are at home make up 95 percent in the EU on average and 94 percent in Estonia. Next comes the workplace, from where 38 percent of respondents in all EU countries and 42 percent in Estonia access the web. When asked whether they had changed their password in online environments during the past year, 52 percent of users in Estonia said they had done it in the online bank, as compared with the EU average ratio of 19 percent. The ratio was lowest for internet shopping sites, where 7 percent of users in Estonia and 12 percent in the EU on average had changed their password in the last 12 months.

When asked how concerns about security issues had changed the way they were using the internet, Estonians named installing anti-virus software and not opening mails from an unknown sender most often, or 57 percent in the case of both answers. The corresponding EU average ratios were 51 percent and 43 percent. Overall, users in Estonia are less fearful in conducting transactions on the internet then EU residents on average.

The issues of security causing the most concern in Estonia are the safety of payments, named by 29 percent against the EU average ratio of 38 percent. Next came concern over misusing of personal data, named by 20 percent in Estonia and 40 percent in the EU on average.

The Eurobarometer survey was conducted from March 10-25, 2012 by interviewing 26,593 people across the EU. In Estonia 1,001 people were interviewed.

The Swedish multinational clothing retail company H&M has confirmed that it will open two stores in Tallinn in the fall of 2013.

Citycon, owners of the Rocca al Mare, Kristiine and Magistral shopping centers in Tallinn, said in a statement that it had signed a contract with the retailer, but did not specify which two locations would host the shops.

This year, H&M plans to enter the Latvian market as well as expand its coverage in Bulgaria, Mexico, Malaysia and Thailand.

Nordic telecommunications giant TeliaSonera today opened a center for IT development in Tallinn, a unit meant to design services and technical solutions for the company's mobile clients in Scandinavia and the Baltics.

The new center, which brings 50 new jobs to the city, will be producing software that will be used by up to 20 million TeliaSonera customers, the company said in a press release.

"We chose Tallinn as the location of our IT development center because the existing unit of the company here is competent and well-functioning," said the head of TeliaSonera's mobile technology division, Claes Nycander.

TeliaSonera is the largest telephone company and mobile network operator in Finland and Sweden, and owns 100 percent of Eesti Telekom, Estonia's largest telecommunications firm.

Source – Invest in Estonia

A two-day Nordic and Baltic conference, Latitude 59 will bring together venture capitalists and startup companies from across the world to the Tallinn University of Technology on June 7.

Key speakers of the event will be Toby Ferenczi, one of the founders of the major solar energy systems developer Engensa, and US investor Ravi Belani, who is also a lecturer at Stanford University.

The focus of the annual conference is broader than just startups operating in the web and mobile communications sectors, drawing attention to other areas of technology such as biotech, the organizers said in a statement. In addition, the conference aims to provide a great platform for innovators and startup entrepreneurs to meet investors, lawyers and potential partners.

Read more here

Liquidity squeeze as business debt write-offs escalate - Research by leading European credit management services company, Intrum Justitia, shows that European businesses are being severely squeezed by liquidity problems.

57% of businesses claim to have problems with liquidity due to late payments, an increase of 10% in the last twelve months. The Intrum Justitia European Payment Index 2012 (EPI 2012) also shows the debt written off by European businesses reaching a record high of €340 billion.

The EPI 2012 survey of more than 7,800 European businesses in 28 countries shows that the European economy is a mixed picture – both in relation to problems with liquidity and written-off debts. Germany and the Nordic countries show considerable strength, whereas other countries, primarily in South and East Europe, are facing great problems.

“The fragmented picture that appeared in last year’s EPI has even been reinforced this year. Alarmingly high shares of businesses in countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain have problems with liquidity due to late payments. Written-off debts also continue to rise in several countries. In Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, more than one out of every €20 in sales is written off as bad debt. Larger economies such as the UK and Poland are also displaying surging debt write-offs,” comments Intrum Justitia CEO, Lars Wollung.

The prolonged economic and financial difficulties are starting to take a toll. 55 percent of businesses claim that the recession has lead to problems with liquidity, a 17 percent rise over the previous year.

The eighth edition of the EPI also shows that businesses are trying to handle the liquidity problems by decreasing the contracted days to payment. On average, the number of contracted days to payment in business-to-business payments has decreased from 36 to 32 days. The average number of days in payment delay remains at 20 days.

“Businesses in Europe are trying to cope but are caught in a vicious circle trying to pay their invoices as late as possible and trying to get paid as early as possible”, says Lars Wollung.

The measures taken by European and International bodies to stall the international financial crisis in general and the Euro crisis specifically have to a large extent focused on saving the banks and the financial system. The survey, however, shows that 47 percent of business in Europe claim to have less confidence in banks being able to support them, whilst only 5 percent claim to have more confidence. This indicates that only a small fraction of financial help actually reaches the businesses.

“A working financial system is vital for the economy as a whole, but if the vast sums spent on saving the banks never trickle down to the businesses that produce goods and services, the road to economic recovery will be a long and rough ride. Businesses’ low confidence in banks is very troubling. An even more striking insight is that only three out of ten businesses are confident that governments will be able to support them,” says Lars Wollung.

With low confidence in banks’ and governments’ ability to support them, businesses in Europe are left on their own. Nor does the situation appear to offer any hope of improvement in the near future – 94 percent of businesses see the risks from their debtors increasing or remaining at the same level in the next 12 months. Intrum Justitia therefore suggests the following ten steps to help businesses help themselves:

1. Create and implement a solid credit policy to manage your risks and increase revenue
2. Follow up on every step in your credit management process
3. Make sure you identified the customer you are doing business with
4. Make a clear agreement with your customer stating all conditions for your business
5. Integrate sales, marketing and financial department in avoiding defaults
6. Implement customer address checks regularly
7. Monitor economic & industry information, and the solvency of key customers
8. Implement swift reminders and possibly charge default interest
9. Always extend and balance your customer structure
10. Never, ever wait, always take immediate action to get paid

Download EPI 2012 Europe Map

Download EPI Tables 2012

About the European Payment Index
The survey was conducted simultaneously in 28 countries between January and March 2012. The survey was conducted in written form and more than 7,800 companies responded. This is the eighth year that Intrum Justitia has run the survey. 

The questionnaire was translated into the respective national languages. Dispatch and return of the questionnaires were carried out on a decentralized basis by the countries concerned, whereas the analysis was carried out centrally in accordance with predetermined guidelines. All information has been verified and uncertainties were not included in the evaluation. Furthermore, not all anonymously sent questionnaires were taken into account for the evaluation. Companies in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were questioned online by a specialized company (BING Research). Bulgaria, Slovenia and Romania were researched by the countries and double checked against a separate on-line survey by a specialized company (BING Research).

BNS – The state-owned Port of Tallinn and Unieveem Eesti, Estonian operation of one of the world's largest logistics companies Katoen Natie, have signed an agreement on the construction of a warehouse complex and distribution center at Estonia's main merchant port of Muuga.

According to the agreement Unieveem plans to build in the first phase of the project a modern warehouse and distribution complex with an area of 25,000 square meters mainly for cocoa beans and cocoa-based products on a 4.5 hectare plot at Muuga, Port of Tallinn said.

Unieveem Eesti CEO Mart Melles said the complex will cost 16 million euros to build and it should start work in the first quarter of 2013. The new facility will initially give work to 25 people.

In the second phase Katoen Natie plans to establish at Muuga one of its most important distribution centers in the Baltic Sea region for other commodities as well, seeing it as a bridge between the East and the West, Port of Tallinn said.

Katoen Natie is a global logistics services provider for several industries including manufacturing and the automotive industry. It has 159 logistics centers in 28 countries of the world with 10,500 employees. The total area of covered warehouse space exceeds five million square meters.

The Internet economy is growing more than 10 percent per year in the G-20 nations.

No one—no individual, business, or government—can afford to ignore its ability to deliver more wealth to more people more broadly than any economic development since the Industrial Revolution.

This report quantifies the Internet’s economic impact. Read more at Boston Consulting Group – The Connected World

SEB Estonia Bank Manager Riho Unt said yesterday that, in the last quarter of 2011, there were 30% more Nordic company bank accounts opened in SEB as compared to the same quarter previous year.

"This is a good sign of credibility and attraction to our country's business environment," Unt told ERR. "While Europe as a whole has more problems than it had a year ago, Estonia seems to have less," Unt echoed the sentiment of his corporate clients.

"The euro has injected confidence in us and our partners," said Unt. "Nordic companies are increasingly encouraged to come to Estonia."

Positive effect of the euro changeover to their results was also cited by over a half of German companies operating in Estonia, according to an end-of-year survey conducted by the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce. According to the survey, that feeling was strongest among those companies whose sales revenue was created mainly in Estonia.

Source – Invest in Estonia

Under kulmen av finanskrisen 2008 – 2009 var det många norska företag som flyttade sin tillverkning till de baltiska länderna, och för vissa av företagen var det en åtgärd för att rädda verksamheten.

De företag som valde Estland som etableringsland är idag mycket nöjda, och många av företagen har under åren kraftigt utökat sin produktion i landet.

Estland får högt betyg för sin flexibla arbetsmarknad och främst är företagen nöjda med landets olika fackföreningar som har uppvisat en stor flexibilitet vad gäller anställningsformer och acceptans för olika lönemodeller.