Why open a business in Central Eastern Europe?

When it comes to looking for locations to set a business up in or move an existing business into, then the CEE region is becoming increasingly popular. CEE stands for Central Eastern Europe and includes countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. As a destination for business opportunities within Europe, it is hard to beat. 

But what makes this region such an attractive choice to open a business in? 

Location 

One of the first great reasons to open a business in the CEE is the convenient central location in Europe it occupies. Easily accessible with lots of flights into the member countries, you can fly to the CEE in a few hours from lots of other places worldwide. This means that not only can your clients find you with no fuss but it also makes it easy to build relationships with other businesses from there. 

Booming economy 

There is no doubt that the economy of the whole region is booming right now. With around 100 million consumers and measures taken by the European Central Bank in recent years to stimulate growth, this is a region that looks set to grow further. Indeed, the ECB has indicated that it will continue to keep rates low and expand its balance sheet by around 270 billion Euro's heading through 2018. This makes the region a very stable and prosperous place to base any business. 

Competitive taxation system

All businesses know that taxes have to be paid but naturally want to keep the bill as low as they can. This is another area where the CEE region scores well. Typically countries in this region have a corporate tax rate below 20% which is lower than the global average. Poland is a great illustration of this where corporate tax is 19% currently. Naturally, this makes it a good choice financially for your business to be based there.

Access to top talent 

All businesses need talented, skilled staff to succeed. This region gives you direct access to a steady flow of the best staff due to the amazing universities in the area. Slovakian universities, for example, produce more than 30,000 top level graduates each year where Charles University in Prague is on the Top 200 list globally. This type of excellent education system provides the best talent to recruit from when based there. Contact us to find out how Alma Career can help you find that best talent.

Salary levels are favourable too 

Staff cost is a big factor when deciding where to open a business. Luckily, the salary levels in the CEE region are favourable which means opening up there will not prove costly, especially compared to other countries in Europe. Poland, for example, had an average national monthly salary of around PLN 4,449 (or about 1,000 Euro's) last year. This is a similar situation in other CEE countries where staff wages are not too high.

Ultimately, it makes perfect business sense to open up in the CEE region. Not only does it offer a strategic location to operate from but also a steady supply of well-educated workers to help you succeed. With competitive salary levels and tax rates, it is one of the best business regions around the globe now.