NIB’s President: Baltic Sea region needs more growth

Jointly, the Baltic Sea region will tap the opportunities the current crisis is providing. Efforts should be made to improve access to financing to SMEs in the region, said Henrik Normann, NIB President & CEO, at the Baltic Development Forum (BDF) summit in Riga today.

Mr Normann commented on the annual State of the Region Report produced for the Baltic Sea region’s policy makers and business communities to highlight what has changed over the year in the region’s global competitiveness. Mr Normann outlined measures that would solidify the fundamentals for higher economic growth in the region.

“We need to use the opportunity the crisis provides to attract investors, promote regional openness and expand on emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and other growth regions,” he said.

“The region needs more growth. Only together, we in the region will be able to tap the opportunities of growth in coming years,” Mr Normann continued.

He stressed that small and medium-sized enterprises need help. It is still too expensive for financial institutions to extend long-term loans, but this is what SMEs need.

The potential for the economic growth lies with the SME sector which now experiences hardship in getting access to financing. The financial sector of the Baltic Sea region has recovered substantially after the crisis and shorter-term financing is back, but availability of longer-term capital is still a problem.

“Insufficient supply of financing may reduce the readiness of businesses to invest. We at NIB are seeking ways to unlock the provisioning of longer-term investment financing in collaboration with commercial banks and other financiers,” said NIB’s President.