TALLINN/NEW DELHI: Ninety-four percent of its citizens access a host of service online and the country could well become the world's first paperless economy. Nowa unique e-residency scheme allows one to sit anywhere in the world and set up a company with zero percent corporate tax (on re-invested profits) in Estonia, a small country in northeastern Europe. The response from India, like around the world, has been pretty encouraging.

The credit card-sized e-residency permit allows the holder to do everything from submitting taxes online, accessing your bank account to digitally signing your contracts and documents. However, it should not be mistaken for unrestricted access to Estonia or, for that matter, the European Union.

"The services of the e-residency card are restricted to the virtual world, so residency or citizen services are not included and this cannot be used as an identification card or replace the mandatory visa or passport for entry into the EU," Siret Schutting, managing director of the e-Estonia showroom, told IANS in Tallinn.

Launched just six months ago, Estonia already has 2,000 e-residents and plans to ramp this up to 10,000 by the end of the year.

Estonian Ambassador to India Viljar Lubi told IANS in New Delhi: "Interest in India has been very keen, even without us actively promoting it. In India it has been proved time and again that good ideas spread the fastest by word of mouth."

The Enterprise Estonia website highlights two provisions of the card - secure digital authentication and digital signing of documentation. As of now the main focus is on attracting businesspersons who already work with or intend to deal with the European Union.

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