Competitive Intelligence in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia - June 2009

The Central Eastern Europe is not as low cost as China or Vietnam for most areas anymore but with the somewhat higher costs comes other important features. Especially if one plans to start manufacturing for export into the European Union or Middle East. The total logistic cost including time to market is far lower and customs barriers are non existent within the European Union. Technically advanced products or processes requiring skilled manual workforce to achieve high quality can be extremely competitive. The other feature of the region is that with much faster growth than in the advanced industrial economies it is not only just a manufacturing hub but represents an interesting long term market to sell ionto and is definitely a place were establishing a good market position over the next few years can set the stage for long term returns.