The Estonian Investment Agency has once again set the standard for other investment promotion agencies in the region to follow.
For the second year in a row, Estonia’s investment promotion agency has come out in top in Emerging Europe’s annual investment promotion report.
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Since 2018, as a part of its awards programme, Emerging Europe has been researching how the region’s 23 national investment promotion agencies (IPAs) communicate their value proposition and how they use their digital channels to grab the attention of potential investors to the various business opportunities offered by the region’s key sectors.
“The Estonia Investment Agency’s website provides relevant and up-to-date information about the country in an attractive and clear manner,” says Andrew Wrobel, founder of Emerging Europe.
“Its customer support and inquiry handling are built upon creative and effective solutions, and social media are targeted at the international customer.”
Behind the Estonian Investment Agency is Invest Lithuania, repeating its second place performance from 2020, while Ukraine Invest moves up from fifth to third, with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia in fourth – no change on its 2020 ranking.
The biggest surprise in the ranking is the performance of Invest Moldova, which climbs 14 places from 19th in 2020 to complete the top five.
‘Standing out is invaluable’
“In a world in which more jurisdictions compete for investment than ever before, standing out with a unique value proposition is invaluable,” says Peter Ryan, the principal analyst at Canada-based Ryan Strategic Advisory.
“The number of times I have been subjected to pitches from cities, regions or countries that are generic and repeat the same mantras, with virtually no differentiation is unacceptable,” he adds. “To win new opportunities from serious investors, today’s investment promotion agencies must find a way to stand out from the crowd. Repeating the tried and tested slogans of days gone by simply won’t cut anymore.”
It is therefore no surprise that the two leading IPAs both score exceptionally well in the innovation and creativity component of the ranking, one of five that makes up the total.
Estonia scores 15 (out of 20) and Lithuania 12: no other IPAs have an innovation and creativity score above 10.
Estonia is also ranked highest in the support and community building component, with Lithuania leading in online presence and ease of use.
Moldova was the runaway leader in validity of information, with Latvia taking top spot for response to current developments.
At the bottom of the overall ranking is AZPROMO, the Azerbaijani Export and Investment Promotion Agency.
The full Emerging Europe Investment Promotion Report 2021 can be downloaded here.
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