14 | My Office Lotte Tisenkopfa-Iltnere (Mádara) 40 | Insta Globe Engineering How the Estonian Firestarters keep their workers happy 70 | Mo Museum Vilnius Putting Lithuania on the international Art Map
24 | S I X O F B A LT I C’S B E S T
www.ahk-balt.org
Running in the Family
Family Enterprises: Secret Force in the Baltic Economy
2.99 EUR
2.99 €
B A LT I C B U S I N E S S Q U A R T E R LY | A U T U M N 2018
BalticBusiness Quarterly A U T U M N 2018
52 | AHK EVENTS Photo: Wirtschaftliche Gesellschaft für Westfalen und Lippe e.V.
Baltic integration – a role model for Europe Baltic stands in the city centre, a round table event on the subject of digitization with the Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and a market entry seminar at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce: on 13 and 14 July, the German university city of Münster was in thrall to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The occasion was the awarding of the International Westphalia Peace Prize – one of the highest accolades for European integration. The jury honoured the Baltic states for their peaceful revolution against the Soviet empire and for their contribution to the continued growth and unity of the European Union. “They are showing a mark of solidarity in these turbulent times”, claimed the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his laudatory speech. The prize is endowed with €100,000. LBG
Summer 2018
54 | AHK EVENTS Photo: Uli Regenscheit
Learning from the digital wonderland of Estonia Digitization, IT and start-up culture: Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Economics Minister of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, learned all about the opportunities and challenges of digital management during her three-day visit to Estonia and Latvia in June 2018. The highlights of the trip from 4 to 6 June were the political meetings as well as visits to start-up centres and the e-Estonia Showroom, where the Minister looked highly impressed with what she saw and added that Baden-Württemberg – the home of companies like Mercedes-Benz, Trumpf and Porsche – had much to learn from pioneering Estonia. The Minister then travelled on to Latvia where she learned more about the start-up law and other activities for entrepreneurs. LBG
Summer 2018
AHK EVENTS | 55
Summer 2018
56 | AHK EVENTS Photo: Lars Björn Gutheil, Continental AG
Breaking ground into the future It still needs some imagination, but the more than 100 guests at Continental’s groundbreaking event in Kaunas got quite an insight into what the German automotive giant is planning at its first Lithuanian plant. The Future Factory, Continental’s most innovative production plant so far, will cover an area of 22,000 square metres and employ up to 1,000 workers. The objective is to produce electronic components for the European market, including door and seat control units, gateways and units for Intelligent Glass Control. Production is scheduled to start in 2019. The event on 20 July was attended by Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė and representatives from the media and partner organizations. Upon completion, Continental’s Future Factory will consist of factories and storage facilities as well as leisure areas and a basketball court. LBG
Summer 2018
AHK EVENTS | 57
Summer 2018
58 | AHK EVENTS
Digital signature, blockchain, e-Residency – for German visitors, these buzzwords still sound like they have been taken from a science-fiction novel. And so it was for the delegation from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce from the Lower Rhine region, who travelled with 15 entrepreneurs and business developers to the Estonian capital Tallinn from 10 to 12 June 2018. Their objective was to build networks in order to be able to collaborate more closely with partners from Estonia in the future. The group met a variety of companies, including Helmes, Proekspert and Funderbeam, and also visited Ăœlemiste City and eKool to get an idea of how digitization in the Estonian school system works. A return visit is scheduled to take place next spring, when a digital summit will be held in North Rhine-Westphalia together with a Baltic business delegation. LBG
Photo: Nathan Licht
Kickoff for regional cooperation
AHK EVENTS | 59
Summer 2018
60 | AHK EVENTS Photo: Jens Schicke
Celebrating 100 Years of Baltics – in Berlin! Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania keep getting more attention by German enterprises and writing their own success stories on Europe’s biggest single market. The three Baltic Embassies in Berlin as well as the German-Baltic Chamber (AHK) invited the Baltic diaspora and entrepreneurs to a Centennial Celebration on 5 September 2018 at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Berlin. More than 100 participants exchanged thoughts on the German-Baltic business future. Amongst them Lidl representative Arūnas Dzikas, who is behind the development of the German retail giant in Latvia and Estonia. Work is in progress to start the 100 million investment in both countries even this year. Lidls success in Lithuania is remarkable, as the country is the first in the enterprise’s history that has become profitable within the first year of business. Other participants were Baltic startups Mooncascade, SWH Sets and Vinted, who are on different stages of conquering the German market and talked about their approaches and strategies. Co-organizer of the event was the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). LBG
Summer 2018