Economics, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

Photo: mk.gov.lv

The officials during the meeting discussed bilateral relations, economic cooperation, security in Europe and other EU matters.

The parties agreed on the necessity to step up economic cooperation. Kucinskis said that Latvia is interested in joint cooperation projects among companies, scientific institutions, higher educational institutions in such sectors as bioeconomics, biomedicine, smart materials and smart energy, ITC and others.

Kucinskis also informed the Spanish prime minister about Latvia’s reforms, especially the recent tax reform. The Spanish prime minister underscored the interest of Spanish business representatives to increase trade in Latvia and participate in infrastructure projects.

Speaking about the EU issues, the parties discussed the Brexit situation, underscoring that the 27 EU members have managed to keep united in this respect.

The prime ministers also discussed the EU budget after 2020 and agreed that it is necessary to maintain sufficient financing for the Cohesion and Agricultural Policies also in the future.

Kucinskis voiced gratitude for the presence of the Spanish troops in Latvia to participate to ensure security of the country. Kucinskis invited Rajoy to visit Riga and participate in Latvia’s centenary events.

Spain is a significant player in the world’s economy – the fourth largest in the EU. Latvia’s foreign trade with Spain is growing every year. In the first nine months of 2017 mutual trade reached EUR 244.61 million, growing 39.53 percent year-on-year.