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Today, Aigars Kalvītis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, met Paavo Lipponen, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland, who has come to Latvia on an official visit.
The Prime Minister noted the very good bilateral relations with Finland, the close political contacts and the ever-increasing trade and economic cooperation.
The Speaker of the Parliament of Finland said that it would be necessary to increase Finnish investment in Latvia and expressed interest in expanding operation of Finnish wood processing companies in Latvia.
The Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland discussed energy supply issues of the region, stressing the need to create energy networks around the Baltic Sea.
Paavo Lipponen said that Latvia plays a very important role in the region in creating and storing gas reserves. Aigars Kalvītis informed about the joint plans of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania and to create connections with Poland, Finland and other energy supply networks in the region.
The Prime Minister stressed the need to take into account the ecological safety of the region when building the new Germany – Russia gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea.
Both sides discussed relations with Russia. Aigars Kalvītis noted with satisfaction that the dialogue between Latvia and Russia has resumed. The Prime Minister expressed the view that there are all necessary preconditions for Latvia and Russia to sign agreements on economic cooperation and creation of an intergovernmental commission already in the nearest future.
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