Several cities in Latvia were top rated by fDi Magazine’s benchmark European Cities & Regions of the Future 2010/2011

“fDi Benchmark” is an independent database which benchmarks global locations according to how attractive they are to foreign investors. This division compiled the majority of the data for the Cities and Regions of the Future study, which was submitted by individual cities/regions.

This information was set under six categories: economic potential, human resources, cost effectiveness, quality of life, infrastructure and business friendliness. All cities were divided by population and assessed within the framework of six categories mentioned above.

• Major cities have a population of more than 1 million.
• Large cities have a population of between 500,000 and 1 million.
• Small cities have a population of between 250,000 and 500,000.
• Micro cities have a population of less than 250,000.

fDi Magazine’s European Cities and Regions of the Future 2010/11 shortlists, which took more than six months to research and involved the collection of data for 223 cities and 142 regions in Europe, ranked Riga, the capital of Latvia, the Best Large European City for Cost Effectiveness, with Vilnius (LT) and Lviv (UA), ranking second and third, respectively.

The Micro European City for Cost Effectiveness award went to Ventspils, one of the three rapidly developing port cities in Latvia. Other Latvian cities – Jelgava and Liepāja hold 2nd and 3rd place respectively, outscoring Panevezys (LT) and Ploiesti (RO).

This can be considered as an important achievement both for respective Latvian cities and on the national level. Top ratings give a clear signal to foreign investors that Latvia is a smart investment choice, when thinking about expanding business opportunities and raising competitiveness in the future.

To download a copy of the full results of European Cities and Regions of the Future 2010/11 click here

Information was prepared in cooperation with Jacqueline Hegarty, Senior Investment Analyst fDi Intelligence