Aigars Kalvītis and Vice Minister of Commerce of People

Today, Aigars KalvÄ«tis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, met Yu Guangzhou, Vice Minister of Commerce of PeopleâÀ™s Republic of China (PRC), who has come to RÄ«ga on a working visit.

Yu Guangzhou thanked the Prime Minister for this opportunity to meet and discuss economic and trade relations of both countries. The honourable guest expressed his delight about the beauty of Latvia and hospitality of Latvian people.

Aigars KalvÄ«tis reaffirmed LatviaâÀ™s willingness to deepen the bilateral economic relations, and appreciated the efforts of PRC to develop effective and mutually beneficial relations both with big and small countries. Both sides noted with satisfaction the dynamic increase in trade between Latvia and PRC, which in the previous year doubled compared to 2003; but nevertheless there are great opportunities for expanding contacts between businessmen, increasing investments and cooperation in the transportation sector including ports, rail and road transportation.

The Prime Minister offered PRC to use LatviaâÀ™s transport infrastructure for transporting Chinese goods to the European Union (EU). The Vice Minister of Commerce of PRC positively viewed the Prime MinisterâÀ™s offer and proposed do discuss cooperation issues in the area of transportation at expert level. Yu Guangzhou underscored the role of ports in cargo traffic and noted the successful cooperation between PRC and the port of Ventspils.

The Governments of both countries have created a legal basis for economic cooperation by concluding several cooperation agreements, inter alia, in the area of transportation. Other opportunities are also used for strengthening business contacts. Aigars Kalvītis informed about willingness of Latvian businessmen to participate in the EU-China summit in September in China, in order to learn more about business opportunities, conditions for entrepreneurship and to make personal contacts with business partners.

The Vice Minister of Commerce of PRC stressed that Latvia is an important partner of China in the context of EU-China relations. In the opinion of Yu Guangzhou, LatviaâÀ™s accession to the EU opened a new page in the relations of both countries, and it offers excellent opportunities for future cooperation in trade, attraction of investments, transportation, communications and tourism. He noted that the good cooperation of both countries positively influences the EU-China relations.