Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Technology

Photo: valitsus.ee

Ratas said at the meeting he was happy that the cooperation between Estonia and the Netherlands was taking an increasingly tangible shape, the governmental press service reports. The prime minister assured King Willem-Alexander that in addition to the public sector the Estonian IT industry and experts were willing to work with the Netherlands to develop digital society.

The Dutch king is visiting Estonia for the second time. The previous visit took place 16 years ago and focused on IT collaboration.

Trade between Estonia and the Netherlands is increasing constantly. The Netherlands is the third-largest foreign investor in Estonia and is in the top ten of our foreign trading partners. The total trade turnover increased by 14 percent year on year in 2017, reaching 1.345 billion euros. "Our economic ties and business to business contacts are good but I still see unused potential here," Ratas mentioned. 

The prime minister and the king also talked about defense and security-related cooperation, in particular the need to pay more attention to the fight against cyber attacks and fake news. "We are allies in NATO. The Netherlands is participating in the military exercises of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence and has contributed to the defense of the Baltic airspace and to the NATO Force Integration Unit in Estonia. Our partnership is excellent," Ratas stated.