From 23 to 26 November, Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis, together with nearly 20 Latvian entrepreneurs and business organisations, will be on a working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, according to the International Marketing and Communications Department of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA).
The working visit includes several high-level meetings, with a special emphasis on developing business cooperation in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, ICT, artificial intelligence, smart energy, logistics, and construction.
On Monday, 24 November, in Dubai, Valainis will meet with the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, and the UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri. The third session of the Latvia–UAE Joint Economic Committee will also take place, along with a roundtable discussion between UAE and Latvian businesses and networking events.
On Tuesday, 25 November, in Abu Dhabi, the Latvia–UAE Business Forum will be held, and one of the key parts of the visit will be the minister’s meetings with the international investment funds “Mubadala” and “ADQ”. At the same time, entrepreneurs will visit “AD Ports Group”, which develops and manages port, logistics, free zone, and maritime trade infrastructure.
“The Ministry of Economics has set an ambitious goal—to double foreign investment in companies’ equity capital by 2029 and attract an additional EUR 1.5 billion to the national economy. Currently, the European Union has begun negotiations with the United Arab Emirates on a free trade agreement, which will accelerate cooperation between the regions. This creates favourable conditions that must be used. The purpose of these meetings is to explore the sectors and scope of projects in which international funds would be ready to invest. These could include energy, infrastructure, and food security,” Valainis explains.
The investment company “Mubadala” manages assets worth approximately EUR 233 billion, focusing on energy, defence, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, infrastructure, logistics, and real estate. The fund already has experience investing in Europe—for example, in 2025 the European Commission approved significant “Mubadala” investments in the Southeast European renewable energy company “Rezolv Energy”, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. “Mubadala” has also invested in several European technology start-ups such as “Klarna”, “Revolut”, “Glovo”, “FirstVet”, and others.
Meanwhile, ADQ manages assets of EUR 150–200 billion, with major portfolio companies including “TAQA – Abu Dhabi National Energy Company”, “AD Ports Group”, and others. The fund focuses on infrastructure, mobility, food, and healthcare. ADQ is actively expanding its presence in foreign markets—for instance, in 2021 “Reuters” reported that ADQ and the French Ministry of Economy and Finance had concluded an agreement for EUR 4.6 billion in investments in France.
“Cooperation with the Middle East requires time and patience—not only because of geographical distance but due to differences in business culture. These meetings are part of the business culture, as the United Arab Emirates highly value personal relationships, patience, and understanding of the local market and its needs. The role of the Latvian investment agency is to facilitate these relationships, and we are seeing that gradually this is also bringing results,” emphasises LIAA Director Ieva Jāgere.
The first UAE investments in Latvia arrived in 2024, when the “Golden Field Factory LV” protein production facility was opened in the Liepāja Karosta Industrial Park, with investments of around EUR 16 million. There are plans to develop similar facilities in other Latvian cities.
Since 2020, the Latvian biomedical start-up “Longenesis” has supported the UAE’s national genome initiative “Emirati Genome Program” with its tools, and in 2024 it won the “Supernova Challenge 2.0” competition in Dubai, competing against nearly 2,000 start-ups and receiving the main prize of USD 100,000.
According to LIAA Director Jāgere, Latvian companies are gradually beginning to participate in UAE procurement in the field of digital solutions. “Latvian companies have the competencies to meet the needs of this market—first steps have been taken, and we hope for favourable results,” Jāgere adds.
The working visit to the UAE will also include the Chair of the Board of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Katrīna Zariņa, Director General of the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia Kaspars Gorkšs, representatives of the Freeport of Riga Authority, and 15 entrepreneurs.
According to data from the Central Statistical Bureau, exports to the UAE reached EUR 78.97 million in 2025, compared with EUR 97.42 million in 2024. Meanwhile, imports this year amount to EUR 5.89 million, compared with EUR 24.94 million last year. The main export categories include electrical equipment and parts, cereals, furniture, toys, games and sports equipment, optical instruments and devices, photo and cinema equipment, measuring and control instruments, precision equipment, medical and surgical instruments and their components, as well as other product groups.
This year, Latvia and the UAE mark 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations. The first session of the Latvia–UAE Joint Economic Committee was held from 14 to 17 December 2019.
Companies and organisations included in the Latvian delegation:
“3D Engineering”, “AJ Power”, “Alūksnes Putnu fabrika”, “AmCraft”, “Asya”, “BSC Group”, “GP Systems”, “HMP Group”, “IT Camp”, LAMOD, Employers’ Confederation of Latvia, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “Primekss”, Freeport of Riga Authority, SKYPARK, “SUBmerge Baltic”, “Tilde”, and VOZOROM.
The working visit is organised by the Ministry of Economics and LIAA in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of State for Foreign Trade.
The trade mission is implemented with the support of the European Regional Development Fund.
About the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA)
LIAA promotes the competitiveness of Latvian entrepreneurs, export growth, and investment attraction, as well as the development of the tourism sector and the implementation of national image policy. The agency acts as a state partner in business development—from idea to international markets. With an extensive network of representations abroad and regional business centres in Latvia, LIAA helps companies grow and positions Latvia as a safe, innovative, and open country in the global economy.
This translation was produced using ChatGPT (artificial intelligence).
