Interested in business and collaboration opportunities in Switzerland?

As of 1st May 2020, Maarja Kadajane joined the ranks of Estonian Foreign Ministry, working as Business and Innovation Advisor in Switzerland. If you are interested in business or innovation collaboration, feel free to contact her.

Maarja is mostly based in Geneva, Switzerland where she has been living and working for the past 13 years. „My main goal is to strengthen economic relations between Estonia and Switzerland, whether it be related to business or innovation collaboration. I will be keeping an eye on both the bilateral projects, as well as on collaboration opportunities with the international organisations,“ she introduces.

„As is well known, Switzerland is home to a strong Life Sciences sector, encompassing in addition to pharmaceutical firms a dense network of medtech, biotech, and nanotech companies. Given Estonia´s agility in health technology, there is potential for stronger collaboration between Switzerland and Estonia,“ she believes. Estonian companies and institutions that are interested in entering the Swiss market are encouraged to get in touch. „One of the aims is to create a network of contacts with the local industry, universities, such as ETH Zurich, EPFL Lausanne, University of Geneva and the related innovation parks. If and where possible, we can also look into investment opportunities,“ she says.

„For a fruitful and effective collaboration, it would be helpful if the company/institution had a specific idea and possibly a strategy for entering the Swiss market,“ she advises. „It is important to keep in mind that the Swiss market is highly regulated and each canton, of which there are 26, can have their own rules and regulations. Also, Switzerland boasts four national languages and a multicultural population which can somewhat complicate the market entry. At the same time, the market is sophisticated, quality- and environment conscious and there is interest in high-tech products and services. There are, however, considerable similarities between Estonian and Swiss mentalities which can be an advantage,“ Maarja Kadajane points out.