Cooperation, EU – Baltic States, Foreign trade

A large number of Indian businessmen who participated in a Latvian-Indian business conference in Riga today attests to the importance of economic cooperation between the two countries, Vejonis told Akbar, as the President's Chancery informed. "The Latvian-Indian dialog has been developing successfully, and both countries are interested in closer cooperation, including in organization of mutual high-level visits," said Vejonis.

The dialog between Latvia and India needs to be further expanded in such areas as education, information and communications technology, transport and logistics, said Vejonis, urging Indian businessmen to make use of the advantageous geographic position of Latvia and the country's developed transport infrastructure.

Vejonis also expressed satisfaction at the increasing number of student and lecturer exchanges and implementation of various Latvian-Indian cultural cooperation projects.

Also, Saeima speaker Inara Murniece met with the Indian official today. Murniece said that the political dialogue has activated, trade has expanded, and there is successful cooperation in education and culture, the parliament’s press service reported.

The politician said that Latvia wants to continue exchange of high-level visits, supporting practical cooperation. Contacts between lawmakers of both countries are important, and there is a group of lawmakers in the Latvian parliament for cooperation with the Indian parliament, said Murniece, adding that she would feel honored to receive the Indian parliament speaker on a visit.

Murniece praised the positive dynamics in the Latvian and Indian economic cooperation, saying that the potential is much higher, and it can be seen in the interest of business representatives from both countries in the Indian-Latvian business conference in Riga.

Transport and logistics are a perspective cooperation area, considering Latvia’s strategic location between Asia and Europe, said Murniece. The minister also underscored Latvia’s advantage in transit area, and voiced interest in closer cooperation in technologies and agriculture.

The parliament speaker said that the number of students from India is growing in Latvia, and an important step would be signing a cooperation agreement in higher education that would ease access to studies in Latvia.