Sigrid Rajalo to lead Estonia’s innovation and economic development policy

Sigrid Rajalo will become deputy secretary general for innovation and economic development at Estonia’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications next week, ERR reports. Her priorities will include developing the business environment, reducing bureaucracy and speeding up the introduction of new technologies.

Rajalo will oversee areas aimed at increasing the added value of Estonia’s economy and the productivity of its companies. Her responsibilities will include corporate research and development, innovation, productivity growth, financial instruments and venture capital.

She will also be responsible for Accelerate Estonia, regulatory sandboxes and the development of the digital business environment, the ministry said.

Rajalo said Estonia had reached a point where bolder decisions were needed to achieve the economy’s next stage of growth.

“The glass ceiling facing Estonia’s economy must be broken, not admired from below. Mere hard work is no longer enough; we need a sharp focus on added value,” Rajalo said.

“The state must offer entrepreneurs the right instruments and improve access to capital, but when necessary it must also simply get out of the way. I want Estonia to be a place where new and radical technologies can be tested more quickly and flexibly than elsewhere in Europe, and where the state removes outdated obstacles from the path of innovation,” she said.

Rajalo also called for clearer strategic choices in business and innovation policy. She said Estonia had often tried to support everything at once, and should direct more attention and resources to areas where its companies had the greatest opportunity to stand out, grow and win market share globally.