If you are considering, or already are, selling your products and services in the EU, you may want to read the following recent announcement published on the UK government website.

“Emerging Europe offers opportunities for all UK companies ranging from novice to experienced exporters, and across multiple sectors.

Emerging Europe is made up of 11 markets and over 120 million consumers located in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

This region offers:

  • increasingly affluent consumers
  • economic growth at double the rate of western Europe
  • widespread use of the English language
  • low risk compared with other Emerging Markets further from the UK
  • easy accessibility from the UK – just 2 to 3 hours flying time on low cost airlines

UK exports are worth over £16 billion, with goods exports doubling over the past decade, and services exports - over £4 billion - trebling.

What is Emerging Europe?

Markets of Emerging Europe are at differing stages of development, but all offer long-term growth prospects for UK companies. The markets are:

  • Austria
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Hungary
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia

Benefits of doing business in Emerging Europe

The markets offer UK companies a number of advantages including:

  • ease of developing business relationships as located close to UK with access via large number of budget airlines
  • ideal for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on tight budgets
  • supply chain opportunities in support of strategically important industries
  • opportunities resulting from £170 billion European Union (EU) Structural and Cohesion funds for 2014 to 2020
  • UK’s positive image as a reliable business partner and increasingly as a source of innovative products and services and new technology

Opportunities

There are opportunities across a range of sectors. These include:

  • advanced manufacturing
  • defence and security
  • energy
  • healthcare and life sciences
  • infrastructure
  • services (financial and professional services, e-commerce and traditional retail)”