OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2014. The Estonian Traders Association said universities should reestablish trade and commerce studies as currently only a small college is teaching the subject at the higher education level.

“Modern Estonian trade is part of a ever more globalized market and local trades must come to grips with world-wide trends. A decent education in trade and commerce is needed to keep Estonian merchants from falling behind,” Raul Puusepp, the head of the board at the association, said today.

Currently only Laane-Viru College - a professional institution of higher education - offers the subject, but only 270 students have graduated in the past decade. Puusepp said it is not enough as the retail sector alone employs 43,800 people in Estonia.

Marika Merilai, director of the association, said business is taught widely at Estonian universities, but commerce has grown from small village stores to international operations, dealing with clients, producers, goods and other factors such as the environment and legislation.