A favourable context

Foreign trade and inclusion in supply chains had already increased for Central & Eastern European (CEE) in recent years, boosted by most of its countries’ decision to join the European Union (EU) in 2004.

Strong assets

• An educated workforce
• Geographical proximity to Western Europe
• Low labour costs
• Relatively good infrastructure
• A stable business climate
• Improving productivity through greater use of automation and “robotisation”.

Various sectors concerned

• The automotive industry, the industrial backbone of the region
• But also: the production of machinery, chemicals, and electrical & electronic equipment, as well as the transport and storage sectors
• And new opportunities: outsourcing of services through digitalization and a large ICT talent pool

However, investments are necessary

New investments are needed for the region to gain a favourable position, especially in terms of automation and digitalization.

To read the full Coface publication, please click below.

Digitalization of Trade Finance services for SMEs in the CEE region

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