Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Investments, Latvia

Foreign investment in Latvia has significantly decreased in the last few years. While such a decrease may have been mainly the result of the global economic crisis, some investors have withdrawn from Latvia as they were discouraged by administrative barriers, unpredictable taxation and the perception of uneven playing field, reported BC Liga Smildzina-Bertulsone, Executive Director, AmCham Latvia.

The government and business experts discussed the present investment climate and how Latvia can become more attractive investment destination. Experts also discussed the most common reasons why investors have chosen to walk away from Latvia.

Joining the debate were the following experts:

• Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Latvia;
• Jens-Christian Pastille, Managing Partner Baltic States of Rödl & Partner;
• Toby Moore, Managing Director of Imprimatur Capital;
• Morten Hansen, Head of Economics Department, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

The event was sponsored by NCH Advisors, Inc.

The Prime Minister of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis informed the audience about the Large and Strategically Significant Investment Project Coordination Council emphasizing that, as a partner to investors, it coordinates the work of different state institutions and provides support to investment projects. In addition, the council focuses on implementation of the recommendations of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL). “In today’s economic stabilization process, our priority is to improve the business and investment climate in Latvia that will create new jobs and encourage people, who have left Latvia, to return. We are not expecting any miracles, rather we are trying to develop the traditional industries by adding value to their products and services,” said Prime Minister. He also emphasized the government’s continued efforts in fulfilling the necessary requirements to adopt the Euro in 2014.

Toby Moore spoke about recent proposal submitted to the government by the FICIL’s Capital Markets working group. He emphasized that by developing capital markets there will be more opportunities for the economic growth of Latvia.

Jens-Christian Pastille said that in order to improve the investment climate, the legal system should be reformed. He mentioned that among the clients of his law firm alone investments worth 60 million euro withdrew from Latvia and were invested in Lithuania during the course of last year. He stressed that investors are looking for legal certainty, effective public administration and even playing field. „Investors don’t feel that there is a level playing field in Latvia. Corruption scares away investors, and it must be fought against not by a separate law but by finding gaps in legislation that allows corruption to occur,” said Pastille.

AmCham Outlook addresses business topics of interest to AmCham members and the wider business community in a timely and lively forum. The event program involves detailed remarks from each speaker, followed by a Q&A session.