Today, the Latvian-German Business Day is taking place in Rostock, with the participation of more than 250 companies, academic institutions and government representatives from Latvia and Germany. The forum was held as part of Latvia’s largest ever business trade mission to Germany, which brought together more than 180 entrepreneurs from various sectors.
Opening the forum, Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Siliņa and Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Manuela Švēzig emphasized the strategic partnership between the two countries and their common goal – to strengthen the resilience of the region by investing in energy, digitalization and innovation.
“We have met with representatives of more than 430 companies this week – this is the most ambitious business event in Germany in recent years. We are already seeing the first results – cooperation agreements in the energy and digital sectors and a historic memorandum with Rheinmetall on the establishment of a production facility in Latvia. Our economic course is clear – we are attracting strategic investors, developing innovations and strengthening industrial capacity. During this visit, we have laid the foundation for projects worth more than 1.2 billion euros. This is an investment in the future of our country, the security of the region and the growth of Europe,” said Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis.
Three parallel sessions were held during the business forum:
Green Transformation in the Baltic Sea Region, where projects of Latvian companies “Latvenergo”, Laflora Energy and the Freeport of Riga were presented, as well as the international initiative BalticSeaH2, emphasizing the role of hydrogen technologies in the transition to green energy. The company Laflora Energy is already closely cooperating with Rostock-based Nordex Energy. This company produces the latest generation of wind turbines.
The digitalization session discussed the implementation of artificial intelligence solutions in various industries and academia. In this session, RTU, Tet, Tilde and the Latvian IT cluster, together with German partners, discussed cooperation opportunities.
Cooperation opportunities in the field of drones and other dual-use technologies and energy were particularly emphasized, where the Military Technology, Drones and Robotics Association MilTech Latvija and the company Edge Autonomy presented their developments to German partners.
“When meeting with German companies, we see that they are looking for new cooperation opportunities, including in the areas of public and private partnerships, where they have accumulated significant experience. For us, this is still a new but very promising direction for attracting investments for our large projects. For example, for the development of Riga Airport, ports or other significant infrastructure projects,” emphasized Ieva Jägere, Director of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA).
Examples of Latvian-German cooperation
- Cooperation between the ports of Riga and Hamburg in the field of digital innovations.
- RTU and HafenCity University for cooperation in sustainable urban environment and mobility solutions.
- Latvian company Aerones is considering the possibility of choosing Hamburg as its Central European base.
- Preparations have been made for the development of the Nordic Homes modular housing project in Hamburg.
- Laflora Energy and Nordex Energy for cooperation in the implementation of wind energy projects in Latvia.
Companies and organizations included in the Latvian delegation
ALL-TECH; AM Energy; Abillio; AdvanGrid; AppXite; Baltijas Fotonika; Bdetect; Biosan; Bonusukarte.lv; C2; CIS Liepāja; CMB Mājokļu Fabrika; Cellbox Labs; Citrus Solutions; Cēsis Municipality; Datakom; Debitum Investments; Double Helix Technologies; Ecengo; Edge Autonomy; Engycell; Fintech Latvia Association; Flora; Freeport of Riga Authority; LVR Fleet, Green Technology Cluster; Ignitis Renewables Latvia; IT Cluster Latvia; Laflora Energy; Latvenergo; Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; LMT; MilTech Latvia; Rettenmeier Baltic Timber; Riga Technical University; Latvian University of Biosciences and Technology; Latvian University of Biotechnology Schwenk Latvia; Tet; Tilde; Vizulo Solutions, as well as a number of other companies and organizations representing biotechnology, sustainable energy, information and financial technologies, logistics, construction and defense industries.
The trade mission is organized by the Ministry of Economics and the Latvian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the State Chancellery and the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The trade mission is implemented with the support of the European Regional Development Fund
Photo available here.
©️Photothek/Thomas Köhler
