Issue 02/2008
The Return of the Hanseatic League – A new Baltic Sea Alliance by establishing Motorways of the Sea
The return of the Hansa is the lead topic of the latest issue of the baltic sea magazine. The article describes how shipping lines and ports, in particular, can intensify the old tradition of supranational business connections via the EU programme “Motorways of the Sea”. And all of this in both German and English, as always. The new issue also presents detailed information about Latvia, the construction of a special ship with extendable stilts for setting up wind turbines from the Bard company, as well as the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, the maritime centre of competence and TÜV Rhineland.
The return of the Hanseatic League
A new Baltic Sea Alliance by establishing Motorways of the Sea
About 850 years ago, something emerged along the coasts of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea which one can confidently call an archetype of the European Economic Community. With the purpose of improving trade and safeguarding their ships, individual cities opened offices in other cities – the Hanseatic League. It helped regions achieve an international economic heyday. Today, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, many companies and town twinnings in the Baltic Sea region are preparing to again fill the old Hanseatic idea with life – heavily funded by the European Union.
Welcome to Latvia
Stepping out of the shade
The story sounds just like a fairy tale. At any rate there is a fairy in it. This is how the name “Lauma” translates. And it all happened once upon a time: A textiles sewing factory of the same name was founded in 1961; publicly owned and far away from the city hubbub in the sleepy little harbour town of Liepaja. The things produced there soon turned the heads of almost everybody in the Eastern Block. Sensual lingerie, Western-style. Soon Lauma developed into the most popular lingerie brand of the Soviet Union. The latter has long since vanished, Lauma is still around. Since 1994 the Estonian group Alta Capital Partners has held an 85 percent interest in Lauma.
The hiding places of the hackers
In the East, IT-specialists often only find illegal jobs
The stronghold of worldwide Internet hackers is in the Eastern part of the Baltic Sea region. Today, most cybercriminals operate from Russia, Lithuania and Latvia. One reason for this is the fact that there are many talented computer specialists who live there but who do not find a job. “They simply do not have enough opportunities to profit from their know-how in a legal way” says Mikko Hyppönen, head of research of the Finnish anti-virus software company F-Secure. The threat that is posed by professional cybercriminals has meanwhile become a major problem. In the business world hardly anything is done without the Internet or data processing. We negotiate via e-mail, we make tenders on online platforms, and we look for new business partners, track status orders and ship positions online.
If you are interested in more contents of the baltic sea magazine 02/2008 please have a look at the complete index
> Index 02/2008 (PDF for download)
