In addition to longtime functions as seaport and capital city, Tallinn has seen development of an information technology sector; in its 13 December 2005, edition, The New York Times characterized Estonia as "a sort of Silicon Valley on the Baltic Sea". One of Tallinn's sister cities is the Silicon Valley town of Los Gatos, California. Skype is one of the best-known of several Estonian start-ups originating from Tallinn. Many start-ups started from the Soviet-era Institute of Cybernetics. The economic sectors of Tallinn also include the light, textile, and food industry, as well as the service and government sector. There is a small fleet of ocean going-trawlers that operate out of Tallinn. Port of Tallinn is one of the biggest ports in the Baltic sea region.
Currently, over half of the Estonian GDP is created in Tallinn. In 2008, the GDP per capita of Tallinn stood at 172% of the Estonian average. This makes the GDP of Tallinn be at 115% of the European Union average, while the overall GDP level of Estonia is at 67% of the EU average.
Notable headquarters
Among others:
*NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE)
*European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice will be based in Tallinn.
*Estonian Air has its headquarters in Tallinn.
*Skype has its software development centre located in Tallinn.
*TeliaSonera has its IT development centre located in Tallinn.
*Ericsson has one of its biggest production facilities in Europe located in Tallinn, focusing on the producing of 4G communication devices.
*Statoil has announced moving the group's financial centre to Tallinn
