Foreign investors praise Latvia's progress in restoring growth and emphasize importance of euro adoption

Riga, May 21st, LETA – On May 20th, the annual meeting between the government and the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL) was held.

During the meeting, the foreign investors recognized the government’s progress in stabilizing the economy and implementing structural reforms, as well as called for sustaining economic growth.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis emphasized that the government sees foreign investments as an important source for faster economic recovery, jobs creation and export-oriented growth.
''The government appreciates foreign investors’ continued support for setting priorities with a view to improve the business environment and make Latvia attractive for investments,'' the prime minister said.

During the meeting, the investors expressed support to the government’s ambition to adopt the euro by 2014, that would demonstrate achievement of specific, effective and sustainable economic objectives.
''The government has strong commitment to meet the criteria for adoption of the euro by 2014 and relies on the foreign investors’ support for this objective,'' the prime minister said.

The participants of the meeting also praised the government’s progress in improving the macroeconomic situation and meeting the requirements of the international loan. The investors called for the government to take next steps to improve the business and investment climate, to implement long-term strategic goals and consider demographic trends.
The prime minister stressed that the 2012 budget will still require consolidation, however, the government has attained economic stabilization and thus it will be possible to focus more on development and medium-term objectives.
The foreign investors emphasized the importance of implementing good corporate governance principles in state-owned enterprises and professional management of state properties. In 2010, for the first time in Latvia, information on state-owned assets was made public and by the end of this year a strategy for management of state-owned enterprises will be drafted to develop a dynamic economy of the 21st century and promote investment attraction.
The FICIL recognized the government’s progress in relation to establishing the Coordination Council for Large and Strategically Important Investment Projects and introducing the investment attraction methodology ''Polaris'', which envisages common and coordinated activities of the Latvian ministries, local governments, infrastructure companies and public authorities in the implementation of significant local and foreign investment projects.
The participants of the meeting agreed on the need to continue the implementation of structural reforms to retain and increase Latvia’s competitiveness.
The FICIL stressed that reduction of the ''grey'' economy, conducting of public procurement in line with the underlying principles for public procurement in the European Union, effectively organized performance of the public sector with clear principles for cooperation between the public and private sector, consistency in decision-making, balancing of bureaucratic rules and administrative requirements, as well as promotion of predictability, transparency and efficiency in public administration are the key measures to improve the business environment and to create positive motivation for both local and foreign investors in line with effective normative regulation. The aforementioned measures would promote the national economic development, while maintaining low inflation and increasing revenues for the state and businesses.
During the meeting, the FICIL also submitted written recommendations and proposals to the government.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Communiqué of the 15th High Council Meeting between the Government of Latvia and the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia was adopted outlining the themes discussed during the meeting and the development objectives with a view to continue the dialogue on improving the business environment and investment climate in the country.
The foreign investors expressed their commitment to further improve the business environment and investment climate in the country by discussing both specific and broad strategic proposals with the government and by following up the progress of their implementation.
The next meeting between the government of Latvia and the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia is scheduled in the spring of 2012.
As reported, the high-level meetings between 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.

More information also at the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia:  http://ow.ly/4Y4is