- We are more alike than we realize, said Sirli Spelman from Talentor Estonia as she commenced the Friday 15 May Business Brunch on the Nordic-Baltic Business Culture, Climate and Legal Frameworks, jointly arranged by SCCE and FECC.

- Some differences do of course exist in terms of how Estonians perceive Swedes and how Swedes perceive Estonians, continued Sirli and gave some examples from Talentor's recent research on Cultural Differences in Nordic-Baltic Business Organizations:

- Estonians about Swedes; "Swedes say, let's have a discussion about what we're going to discuss in the next meeting." "Swedes are very open and talkative, sometimes 'all over the place'." "It's unthinkable to answer work calls during vacation."

- Swedes about Estonians; "Estonian managers go more on gut feeling rather than true analysis." "Very straight forward, rather eager to share and teach others." " Most Estonians are willing to work around the clock."

Business Sweden's country manager in Estonia, Janar Sutt, continued and presented their Business Climate Survey 2015, conducted in cooperation with the Swedish Embassies in Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius, Handelsbanken, Law firm SORAINEN, and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.    

- Currently, there are approximately 800 active Swedish companies in Estonia, 400 in Latvia and 150 in Lithuania. Our survey shows that they perceive the Baltics as a good place to live in and do business with. Swedish and Nordic companies are very well perceived and positioning as a Swedish/Nordic company can very well be utilized for positive branding, said Janar.

- Swedish companies plan to continue to invest. Recent geopolitical events have had little or some effect for the average respondents’ investment decisions, concluded Janar.

Ants Mailend, Partner and Attorney-at-Law at Law Firm VARUL, continued and introduced us to the Baltic Legal Frameworks from a Nordic Perspective.

- In general, Estonia and the Nordic countries are quite similar. Common history and our days EU membership have of course contributed. The main difference in terms of legal frameworks is that we are still a very young democracy compared with the Nordic countries, and legislation issues need time to settle, said Ants.

On behalf of all participants, I would like to thank Sirli Spelman, Janar Sutt and Ants Mailend for their very interesting presentations. My thanks also go to Kelli Püss at FECC for a good cooperation in making yet another joint SCCE - FECC event happen.

Sincerely,

Kristiina Sikk

SCCE Ombudsman