Estonia intends to follow Latvia in attracting foreign money and in some ways is even ahead of neighbor. Now the country is developing new laws to attract foreign investors, in particular, a "virtual citizenship" and a residence permit for property investment (similar law successfully operates in Latvia since 2010), ee24.com informs citing The Baltic Course.
The so-called virtual citizenship will be introduced in Estonia on November 1, 2014. The ID-card will be issued foreign entrepreneurs from third countries to open companies and bank accounts via the Internet, and not to pay income tax if one reinvest profits in the Estonian economy.
As the Baltic media reports, about 10 million virtual foreign businessmen will be attracted in Estonia by 2025. For comparison, now 1.4 million people live in Estonia.
Also, the Estonian authorities work on a bill to provide a residence permit for investments in real estate and determine the amount of required funds (in Latvia it's €250,000 plus 5% tax from September 2014). The Estonians have optimistic expectations that their country will benefit from the addition, if the Latvians cancel "golden residence permit" for investors.