The Increase of Competitiveness East Central Europe, the Baltics and Russia

The East Central Europe, Baltics and Russia, before the period of their systemic transformation, had
not been included into the general process of globalisation because they had been “fenced off” from
the world economy by means of political and economic barriers. As a consequence the gaps opened
up - systemic, competitive and temporal - the remnants of which even now, make the incorporation of
those countries into the general process of globalisation so difficult. The systemic transformation of
East Central Europe, Baltics and Russia caused the elimination of basic systemic barriers, making the
integration with the world economy less difficult. However, there are still factors influencing
unfavourably the process of joining the world economy. The chapter will present the East Central
Europe, Baltics and Russia competitiveness in the conditions of the regionalisation and globalisation
process. The key element of the competitiveness increase strategy is developing of technological
capabilities in each particular country.