Business
Estonia e-residency initiative draws Indian, global attention
By
By Parvati TampiTallinn/New Delhi, May 12
Ninety-four percent
of its citizens access a host of service online and the country could
well become the world's first paperless economy. Nowa unique e-residency
scheme allows one to sit anywhere in the world and set up a company
with zero percent corporate tax (on re-invested profits) in Estonia, a
small country in northeastern Europe. The response from India, like
around the world, has been pretty encouraging.
The credit
card-sized e-residency permit allows the holder to do everything from
submitting taxes online, accessing your bank account to digitally
signing your contracts and documents. However, it should not be mistaken
for unrestricted access to Estonia or, for that matter, the European
Union.
"The services of the e-residency card are restricted to
the virtual world, so residency or citizen services are not included and
this cannot be used as an identification card or replace the mandatory
visa or passport for entry into the EU," Siret Schutting, managing
director of the e-Estonia showroom, told IANS in Tallinn.
Launched just six months ago, Estonia already has 2,000 e-residents and plans to ramp this up to 10,000 by the end of the year.
Estonian
Ambassador to India Viljar Lubi told IANS in New Delhi: "Interest in
India has been very keen, even without us actively promoting it. In
India it has been proved time and again that good ideas spread the
fastest by word of mouth."
The Enterprise Estonia website
highlights two provisions of the card - secure digital authentication
and digital signing of documentation. As of now the main focus is on
attracting businesspersons who already work with or intend to deal with
the European Union.
Given that the project is yet at a nascent
stage, a lot of work is still going into improving the services offered
to make it more effective and attractive to potential e-residents to put
it at par with e-services already enjoyed by Estonian citizens.
Initially,
new e-residents had to be securely identified with mandatory access to
basic biometric data requiring that every applicant be physically
present in Estonia at least once. Now travelling there is no longer
necessary, as it is possible to complete the formalities at Estonian
embassies worldwide.
"E-governance and e-society is never a
readymade concept; it is a dynamic, ever-changing definition. You need
to develop and adapt in order to be on the top of the game," Lubi added.
So, the question arises: Why Estonia?
"This
is a simple and accessible gateway to the European Union. One can set
up a company within 10 minutes. And from there on, the EU becomes your
market," Indian businessman Bashyam Krishnan, who has been living in
Estonia for just under two years, told IANS in Tallinn.
The
engineer from Tamil Nadu, who holds a permanent resident card which
offers most of the services that the e-residency card does, said it is
such e-services that make Estonia one of the most digitalised countries
globally and a great option for established companies as well as
start-ups.
"The services offered as a part of this are varied and
nearly everything can be done with the touch of a button. The system is
that easy and user friendly. Additionally, multiple security measures
are there from secure passwords to a log system to check illegal access.
I believe that it is extremely secure," Krishnan, the CEO of Horizon
Pulp and Paper, said.
Estonia can pride itself on its headway in
e-governance for everything from e-banking to e-commerce to e-voting,
making it virtually paperless. Given that half the country's land is
under forest cover, access to paper might not really be an issue.
"Our
forests remain as they were 10,000 years ago, except now, with free
Wi-Fi." Schutting quipped before logging out of a system that could well
become the norm for the rest of the world in the not so distant future.
(Parvati Tampi can be contacted at [email protected])