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Tartu at a Glance
If you are considering Estonia as a source of investment opportunity you should really take a look at Tartu city.
The second largest city of Estonia
Centre of Southern Estonia
Area: 38.8 square kilometres
Population: About 100 000 inhabitants
The first mention in written sources: 1030
Registered companies: ca 6500 ( 2006)
Unemployment rate: 1,5-1,8%
Distances from Tartu: Tallinn 186km, Narva 184km, Pärnu 178km, Riga
250km, St. Petersburg 315km
Ethnic composition of Tartu: Estonians 76%, Russian 19%, others 5%
Tartu has all the best of the globally new but with the local advantage – the costs are lower, security is higher and air is cleaner than in Tallinn, Helsinki or New York. The access to Estonian’s central market region, a well-qualified work force, good transport system and fully modernised business infrastructure has made Tartu an attractive location.
The geographical location makes the city very attractive logistically. By car/bus it takes no more than 2.5 hours to Tallinn or 3.5 hours to Riga.
Education and R&D
Tartu is a university town and known as a centre of education in Estonia.. In addition to Tartu University, founded in 1632, two more large institutions of higher education are located here: the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the Baltic Defence College. Tartu has a total of 16 institutions of higher education . Tartu Vocational Education Centre offers vocational training in the following fields – IT and construction fields, electricity, food technology, metal works, sewing etc.
Since 2001, Tartu has been the seat of the Ministry of Education of Estonia. Tartu is also an internationally known research town. The research institutions of Tartu practically represent all the trends and fields of science of Estonia – Institute of Physics, Institute of Techmology, Estonian Marine Institute etc.
The majority of Estonian life sciences and medicine R&D activities are concentrated in Tartu. Also, more than 60% of the total Estonian research potential is concentrated in Tartu.
Information highway
All professional and technical services are available in Tartu, including international operators. About 98% of business transactions are non-cash. Mobile network coverage is 100% throughout the county.
Several innovative technical solutions and applications have been developed locally, for instance MPS (mobile positioning system).
Tartu was the first city in the world to introduce paying for parking via mobile phone – a trivial fact, but a good indicator of how technically advanced Tartu has become. Now this extends to paying for public transport ( m-ticket) via mobile phone.
Industry
Tartu industry is modernised and in the phase of a rapid development.
Large foreign investments have been made into Tartu’s traditionally strong sectors – engineering, electronics, food industry – as well as new ones –information technology, glass industry and biotechnology. Foreign companies have invested also in the public services: city energy, transport and maintenance companies. Machinery and metal industry growth is based mainly on local investments, but the sector is one of the strongest and competitive in Tartu.
The growth rate of goods exports picked up, facilitated by increasing external demand and recovering competitiveness during the last years.
Tartu holds a strong position in the establishment of high- tech enterprises, notably in the fields of biomedicine, material science and information technology.
The service sector dominates the economy of Tartu both with regard to profits and the number of people employed (over 2/3).
Conference tourism in a university town has been an obvious sector for growth.. Enterprises have responded, and created the capacity and variety for Tartu to compete as an attractive conference venue with quality and hi-tech services.
Closeness to Russia makes Tartu a perfect place for businesses to trade with the Russian Federation. Customs and Toll declarations can be made in Tartu rather than at the border.
Nice and friendly living environment – you may find a wide spectrum of cultural activities with many interesting museums, libraries, theatres and open-air events.
A well-developed commercial and business atmosphere bases on good contacts between local business, universities, various institutions and service providers in Tartu.