OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2010. A study by Raideberg Ltd. finds great untapped potential to expand the timber industry in southeastern Estonia and along the Latvian border.A few kilometers from the Latvian border, a family-run furniture producer named Vipmoobel Ltd. employs a family and a few more workers.

Ten years ago, the owner sold his remaining livestock, which wasn't paying the bills, and used the funds to buy machinery for utilizing a plentiful local resource – forests. These days the company, which has carved out a niche market with few regional competitors, is prospering and creating new jobs, reported ETV.

The study, ordered by a cooperative Estonian-Latvian effort to stimulate business activity in the border region, believes that the model used by firms like Vipmoobel Ltd. can fix the problem of low economic activity and dwindling populations in the countryside.