The President of Estonia, Alar Karis, recently visited London to meet with King Charles III and attend an international conference on rebuilding Ukraine. During his visit, Karis spoke at the Global Corporate Venturing Symposium, where he emphasized the importance of research and innovation in the tech sector.
Karis encouraged closer cooperation between Estonian and British entrepreneurs, stating that the same passion that has created successful apps and startups must now be channeled into research innovation. He noted that the digital sector needs to become more sophisticated over time, focusing on deep tech and turning research projects into businesses.
The President also highlighted the necessity of finding ways to transfer digital knowledge to other areas of life and use it to tackle the effects of climate change. Karis invited British companies to start businesses and invest in Estonia, stating that economic freedom and the widespread use of digital services make it easy to do business in Estonia.
On Tuesday, Karis addressed a conference focused on supporting Ukraine, which aims to attract investments and get the private sector involved in rebuilding the country. The President pledged Estonia’s continued support for Ukraine and noted that companies in the Estonian private sector are showing a great deal of interest in being involved.
A lot of Estonian companies have been operating in Ukraine for years and are willing to share their experience of doing so at the European level, said Karis.
In conclusion, Karis urged the tech sector to prioritize research and innovation, and invited British companies to consider investing in Estonia. He expressed his commitment to supporting Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts and highlighted the willingness of Estonian companies to contribute to these efforts.