The U.S. Commercial Service operated a Baltics regional office in Riga, Latvia from May, 2001 until September 30, 2004. Currently, the nearest U.S. Commercial Service partnership offices to the Baltics are in Warsaw, Poland for Lithuania; in Stockholm, Sweden for Latvia; and in Helsinki, Finland for Estonia. There is one Commercial Specialist located in each of the U.S. Embassies in the Baltic countries ready to serve U.S. business needs.
Baltic Countries - General Overview
Three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are located on the east side of the Baltic Sea located between Sweden, Finland, Russia and Poland. Together they comprise an area comparable to the state of Oklahoma and 7.3 million residents. The smallest of the three is Estonia and it is slightly larger geographically than Denmark. The total population of the Baltics is roughly equal to that of Sweden. On March 29 and May 1, 2004, they became full members of NATO and the European Union, respectively. They are among the fastest growing economies in the EU with average GDP growth over 7 per cent.
With relatively high standards of living and modern infrastructure, these countries have much in common historically, geographically and economically. Due to a lack of natural resources, they strive to take advantage of their geographical location and their main resource – a highly educated and skilled workforce. As a gateway between Russia and Western Europe, the Baltic countries always played an important role for U.S. trade interests and exports and we expect it to continue given that the Baltic eastern borders now are part of the common EU-CIS border.
| Key Statistics | Estonia | Latvia | Lithuania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1.4M | 2.94M | 3.5M |
| GDP in USD (2006) | 16.5billion (estimated) | 15.11 billion | 30.2 billion |
| GDP Growth % (2006) | 11.8% (estimated) | 10.2 % | 7.4% |
| Inflation % (2006) | 4.4% | 7.0 % | 3.8% |
Source: National Statistical bureaus of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
| USA - Baltics Trade Statistics in 2005 | Estonia | Latvia | Lithuania |
|---|---|---|---|
| US exports to | $145.5M |
$176.8M |
$335M (2006) |
| US imports from | $511.4M |
$362.2M |
$660M (2006) |
| US Trade balance with | $-365.9M | $-185.4M | $-325M (2006) |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
European Union Standards, Regulations and Certification Requirements
Click here to be redirected to the "Standards Page" on the web site of U.S. Mission to the European Union which lists a lot of useful links to resources of information in this field.