Category: <span>Around the world</span>

Finland is a highly industrialised nation, with an economy driven largely by exports, particularly of high tech goods and services, and forest industry machinery and products.

This heavy reliance on exports – the export market accounts for 50% of Finland’s GDP – coupled with the country going through something of an economic downturn in recent years, mean it’s not the best place to import to.

Even so, in 2014, exports of goods and services from the UK to Finland totalled £2.6 billion – so if exporting to Finland is on your to-do list, here’s everything you need to know…

Estonia is the smallest and most northerly of the Baltic states and is a great place to do business and has moved up to be ranked at 17th place in the World Bank’s imaginatively titled Ease of Business index.

And there are many benefits for UK businesses looking to set up links with Estonia such as the low cost direct flights between the UK and Tallinn and the fact that the country is an open economy with a very westernised business culture – including the fact that English is widely spoken.

So, if you’re looking to take your business to the Baltic states, here’s everything you need to know about exporting to Estonia…

The Dominican Republic is a Latin American success story, with an economy that has enjoyed steady growth since 2005, and in 2013 GDP grew by 4.1%, making it the ninth successive year of growth, higher than the Latin American average.

Tourism is the country’s leading foreign exchange earner although agriculture, construction and mining all play an important part in keeping the country ticking over.

And its strategic geographical location means its ports and airports offer easy access to the rest of the Caribbean, the US and Latin America.

So if you want to add the Caribbean island to your list of trade destinations, here’s all you need to know about exporting to Dominican Republic…

Costa Rica is one of Latin America’s most stable countries – its population of just under 5 million has an open economy that is focussed on agriculture, industrial production, services, and tourism.

There are many well known UK businesses that are now established over there, including  AstraZeneca, Glaxosmithkline, and Land Rover.

So if you’re planning on exporting to Costa Rica, here’s everything you need to know…

With a population of 48 million people, Colombia is the third largest country in Latin America, and it’s economy is the 28th largest in the world.

The UK has recorded investments of around £11 billion in Colombia since the turn of the millennium and is the country’s second largest investor, after the United States.

And although still relatively small, UK exports to Colombia increased by 126% between 2009 and 2012 and the total UK exports of goods to Colombia reached £303 million in 2012.

The UK’s main exports to Colombia include:

• Whisky (accounting for as much as 16% of total UK export to Colombia)
• Pharmaceuticals
• Machinery
• Chemicals

So there are definite investment opportunities out there and the structure is in place for UK businesses to make a go of it in this South American powerhouse.

Business is booming in China – in the last three decades it has grown to become the world’s largest economy, and this presents a huge opportunity for UK businesses thinking of exporting to China.

Jaguar Land Rover is currently the UK’s biggest export to China, and if you’d like to join it and become one of the many UK companies doing business in China, here’s all you need to know…