|
On May 20, the annual meeting of the Prime Minister, ministers and the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL) will be held, during which the foreign investors and the government will discuss current developments in the Latvian economy – the need for structural reforms, improvement of the macroeconomic situation, tax administration, public procurement procedures, development of the capital market, as well as transport and logistics as an important sector to improve Latvia’s competitiveness.
The government’s representatives and foreign investors will discuss the opportunities to stabilize and sustain national economic growth and further necessary steps to improve the business and investment climate. During this year’s high-level meeting the macroeconomic situation of Latvia will be analysed in context of fiscal limitations and demographic situation determining the need for radical, national sustainable development-oriented structural reforms. The recommendations for sound fiscal policy, improvement of tax administration and public procurement procedures, synergy of transport and logistics systems with other sectors, development of the capital market infrastructure, as well as other possible changes to the regulatory environment aimed at improving the national competitiveness and promoting fair, open business environment will be discussed.
A day before the meeting with the government, on May 19, the FICIL will meet President Valdis Zatlers and representatives of the Strategic Analysis Commission (SAC) to discuss Latvia’s priorities, goals and tasks to attain economic development. At the meeting, the last year’s changes in the macroeconomics of Latvia and Latvia’s competitiveness, as well as the development of the higher education and vocational education system and quality of the labour force will be analysed. The meeting will be held at the Rīga Castle, on Thursday, May 19, at 10.30-12.00. The representatives of the mass media will have a photo and video opportunity at the beginning of the event and a photo, video and press opportunity with the representatives of FICIL and SAC after the meeting. Media representatives who are not accredited at the Press Service of the President’s Chancellery shall apply for a pass in advance by phone: 67092132 or e-mail: prese@president.lv.
On May 19, at 12.30, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the FICIL will host a lunch attended by State Secretary of the MOFA Andris Teikmanis and representatives of the Economic and Bilateral Relations Directorate of the MOFA, the representatives of the management of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIDA) and representatives of LIDA’s Investment Attraction Division. At lunch, in an informal atmosphere, the participants will have opportunity to exchange views and ideas on the issues related to the macroeconomic situation and measures to be taken to improve the business environment and promote the investment attraction, recovery of the Latvian economy, as well as to improve competitiveness in international context.
On May 19, at 14.30 – 17.30, a panel discussion “Latvia’s New Reality: Will demographic and fiscal limitations shape structural reforms?” will be held at the Stockholm School of Economics in Rīga aimed at encouraging a dialogue between the government, entrepreneurs and wider audience. In this discussion the FICIL aims to emphasize the need to change the system of welfare, education, health and tax system to ensure further economic growth and promote national competitiveness. Within the framework of the discussion, Professor Claus Vastrup (Denmark) will present Denmark’s experience in reform implementation and high-level representatives of the Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Economics, as well as experts – representatives of different sectors will participate in the panel.
On Friday, May 20, at 9.00 – 12.15, in the Green Hall of the Cabinet of Ministers, the fifteenth high-level meeting of the Latvian government and the Foreign Investors’ Council of Latvia will be held.
After the meeting, at 12.30, a press conference will be held (3rd floor of the Office of the Cabinet of Ministers, Press Conference Room, Room 319) attended by Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, Honorary Co-chairman of the high-level meeting of the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia, President of the GE Money Bank’s parent company - General Electrics for the Nordic and Baltic Region Hans Enocson and Claus Vastrup Professor of Economics at the University of Aarhus (1983-2010), Deputy Head (1985- 87) and Head (1987-93) of the Danish Economic Council, Member of the Board of the Danish Foreign Policy Institute (1995-2002).
The representatives of the mass media willing to participate in the press conference and film or take photos of the beginning of the meeting are kindly asked to apply for a pass at the Communication Department of the State Chancellery by phone: 67082828 or e-mail prese@mk.gov.lv.
On the FICIL side, the high-level meeting will be attended by top executives of the following parent companies of enterprises operating in Latvia: British American Tobacco, Cemex, Coca-Cola Company, Dalkia Latvia, DnB NORD Banka, Ernst & Young Baltic, Eversheds International Limited, Fazer Group, GE Money, Indtec Baltic Coal, Knauf, Latvija Statoil, Linstow, Narvesen Baltija, NCH Advisors, Neste Latvija, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Rimi Baltic, RSA Group, Saint-Gobain, SEB banka, Stockholm School of Economics, Stora Enso, Swedbank, Telia Sonera, Volvo Truck Latvia and representatives of ten foreign chambers of commerce (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden).
Information
The high-level meetings of the government of Latvia and FICIL have been taking place annually since 1999. The objective of the dialogue between the government and the foreign investors is to improve the business environment and encourage foreign investments in Latvia. The ministers, senior officials, and senior executives from each FICIL member company’s headquarters monitoring foreign investments in Latvia participate in the annual meetings of the Latvian Government and FICIL
Supplementary information:
Laine Kučinska
Acting Head of the Communication Department
State Chancellery
Phone: 67082905
e-mail: Laine.Kucinska@mk.gov.lv
Ģirts Greiškalns
Executive Director of FICIL
Phone: 67217201
e-mail: ficil@ficil.lv
|
