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Competitiveness of small economies

The international conference Competitiveness of small economies, held in Riga April 23 -24 addressed the question "how small countries such as the Baltic States can compete in the EU single market"

The conference brought together policy makers, entrepreneurs and academics from EU countries and from the new member states to discuss this question and several other topics such as: the Lisbon strategy, regional innovation, the development of SMEs and start-ups, the use of EU structural funds, the example of Ireland.

One of the conference's goals was to deliver a menu of specific policy-related projects which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could implement to increase productivity, economic activity and investment.

The small new member states appear to face particular problems in competing in the EU single market. This is reflected by their scores on the Lisbon agenda - an EU-wide effort to improve the competitiveness of the European Union. The largest gaps are related to financial services, sustainable development, innovation and R&D as well as liberalization.

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