When I first came to Europe 18 years ago, I was curious about Scandinavian countries as they have high standards when it comes to economic and social policies. However, I was missing the 3 key countries in the Baltics: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

The Baltics are part of Northern Europe. So please do not refer to them as Eastern Europe. In the last 20 years, the Baltics worked very hard to close the gap with Scandinavia. Particularly they made significant improvements on digitalisation, immigration and start-ups.

1. Digitalisation

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are considered some of the most digitally advanced countries in the world. In fact, you can see in the E-Government Survey 2020 from United Nations that Estonia is ranked #3 globally when it comes to institutional framework, strategy and implementation, legal framework, usage of online services, new technologies and international and regional cooperation.

People from Estonia can do anything online except for very few things like buying/selling property and getting married/divorced. They established e-voting, e-government, online education and comprehensive online content for anyone wishing to save time.

Internet is key to make all digitalisation smoother. The fastest internet in the world we know it’s in Taiwan but when we talk about the fastest public WiFi in the world, then we’re talking about Lithuania.

Latvia is also above the European average in terms of digital public services and connectivity. They have a great potential although they’re still on their way to catch up with Estonia and Lithuania for digitalisation.

2. Immigration

Some of these countries make life easier for people willing to have a residence there. For example, Estonia has invested heavily in creating smart IDs for non-residents so they can have access to the same online services that Estonians have.

Let’s say we want to be a nomad. Well, Estonia has a Digital Nomad Visa for people to live in the country for one year while they work remotely. This is a big thing.

Following the steps of Estonia, Lithuania also introduced an e-residency program. The deployment will take place in 2021.

There’s certainly more of immigration policies to be reviewed but when thinking these initiatives in terms of business, then it becomes very interesting.

3. Start-ups

Estonia takes the lead again. You can register your new business in just minutes and do your e-Tax, e-Banking and e-Business register. These days Estonia is really e-Estonia. They provide e-Identity, interoperability services, security and safety, healthcare, e-governance, mobility services, business and finance and education and research.

Let’s not forget that Estonia was many start-ups widely well-known. In fact, I don’t think they are still start-ups but reality. For example: Skype started in Estonia. We can add: Wire, Jobbatical, Planet OS, Starship Technologies and TransferWise.

Lithuania took this to a different level. If we think about 10 years ago, start-up industry was not even a thing in Lithuania. Today they’re top 10 in the world in terms of ease of doing business and procedures to start. In fact, there’s a Global Fintech Index and in 2020, Lithuania is ranked #4 globally only behind USA, UK and Singapore. Yes, a country of 2.8 million people with absolutely incredible local fintech leaders such as StockInvest, Coingate and NEO Finance. Payments, lending and banking are some of the key advantages that Lithuania has as well as the best Wi-Fi speed for start-ups.

Latvia also has promising start-ups such as Mintos, Jora, Vialet and Nordigen to name some. However, applications to do business are higher in Estonia simply because Latvia doesn’t offer a full online application process and renewal process is a bit harder in Latvia. It’s fair to say though that Latvia issues a start-up visa for 3 years whereas Estonia’s one is for 12 months. Latvia is also stricter in the matter of financial safeguard for applications, asking up to 3 times more than Estonia.

Final Thoughts

Estonia is certainly the leading country in the region and the closest to Scandinavian countries’ model. Their GDP, innovation, digitalisation, borderless policies and forward thinking are impressive. Tallinn’s Old town is one of the most amazing places in Europe.

Latvia has shown a lot of progress and growing trading partnerships. Riga is a beautiful city and invested significantly in the past decade. In fact, Riga’s airport is modern, fast and can compete with even larger cities’ airports. Latvia has more similarities with Lithuania than Estonia.

However, I must confess that my biggest surprise was Lithuania. I still remember my first time when I travelled to Lithuania. I expected to see a Soviet country. Even though there are legacy buildings and monuments inspired by the that time, I was absolutely impressed with the level of digitalisation, innovation and evolution of Lithuania. Nature is a separate discussion as it’s stunning.

As mentioned before, there are no doubts that Estonia is the leading country but I do believe Lithuania is the rising star. The growth they experimented in the last decade is unheard. How did such a small country managed to be the European leader in laser technology or fastest public wi-fi internet? Just think about the history of Lithuania. Almost 30 years ago they were in the process of getting their independence.

Finally, the Baltic region is not as advanced as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland but as we can see, they’re following those steps. That will be their natural destination at some point in few decades. In the meantime, let’s enjoy the journey.