Foreign Investor 2023

Objective

To acknowledge successful foreign investors operating in Estonia.

Who can apply?

Companies that operate in Estonia with shares held by international investors and that have made a significant investment in Estonia in the last three years are invited to apply.

Evaluation criteria and process

The following economic indicators are evaluated (comprising 30% of the final result):

  1. Increase in added value1 per employee in 2020 vs 2022 (10%)
  2. Absolute volume of investments made in 2020-2022 (10%)
  3. Increase in the number of employees 2020 vs 2022 (number of full-time positions) (10%)

 

The company must show a significant achievement in the following areas in the last three years (comprising 70% of the final result):

  1. Creation of new products, technologies and/or industries in Estonia thanks to foreign investment (20%)
  2. Number of new highly qualified jobs created (10%)
  3. Expanding and implementing the company’s value chain in Estonia (10%)
  4. Initiating and improving cooperation with local and/or international research and development2 organisations for developing products and/or services in Estonian branches of the company (10%)
  5. Establishing partnerships with local educational institutions to guarantee the training of new specialists (10%)
  6. SDG3, ESG4 or other similar principles are being created or implemented and disclosed by the company (10%)

 

  1. Added value per employee = (labour costs including taxes + depreciation of fixed assets + business profit) / number of employees.
  2. Research and development (including experimental development) includes systematic creative activities designed to increase the scope of knowledge and the ability to use such knowledge to uncover new fields of technology. Activities can be classified as research and development if they fulfil five basic criteria: innovative, creative, producing unexpected results, systematic, transferrable and/or repeatable. For research and development, all five criteria should be simultaneously fulfilled, whether it is a constant or intermittent activity.
  3. SDG or the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 by the United Nations as a call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030, all people have peace and well-being. See more: https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
  4. ESG or Environmental Social and Corporate Governance – an environmental, social and corporate governance framework that is integrated into an organisation’s strategy to consider the needs of all organisational stakeholders (such as employees, customers and suppliers and financiers) and find ways to create more value for them. It can be considered a set of management measures and standards through which it is possible to manage the impact of a company and its products and/or services on the environment, people and the economy.