OREANDA-NEWS  On 21 October Parex banka announced that in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in the UK the forth annual seminar Latvian Investment Day: the Baltic Outlook held in London on 17 October 2008. The event gathered about seventy senior international professionals in banking and finance, discussing the recent economic developments in Latvia on the back of global financial turmoil.

The seminar was opened by His Excellency, the Ambassador of Latvia in the UK, Mr. Indulis Berzins and the Member of the Council of Parex banka Mr. Viesturs Neimanis. Both hosts welcomed the seminar attendees and stressed the importance of the successful development of bilateral relations between Latvia and the UK.

Opening the forth annual Investment Day in London H.E. Indulis Berzins, the Ambassador of Latvia in Great Britain pointed out: “Bilateral relations between Latvia and the UK are very good. Economic and cultural ties, as well as people to people contacts are expanding from year to year. The UK has become the 6th largest export partner for Latvia with a positive trade balance on Latvia’s side. The UK also is a considerable investor in Latvia - 7th in foreign direct investment. We are like-minded countries in many economic policy issues such as supporting liberalization, open markets, and competition. Political exchanges between our countries are very active on different levels. In fact, the Foreign Minister of Latvia will be visiting London in ten days’ time and the ex-President of Latvia Prof. Vaira Vонe-Freiberga will visit London in mid November to open our 90th Independence day celebration - just to name a few.”

In his speech the Ambassador expressed that in the current global economic and financial environment Governments in Europe and around the globe, international structures, as well as market players themselves are putting in place all necessary measures to maintain economic stability and ensure confidence in markets.

Mr. Viesturs Neimanis stated: “In the modern world open communication and access to extensive information are very important in building understanding and credibility. Especially, in these sensitive global market conditions and growing constraints on the unbalanced economic developments in the Region, open dialog should be developed with the international community, bringing recent, accurate and objective information from the prime sources.”

“In order to bring as much objective information about the situation in the Baltics as possible, Parex banka is pleased that the event brought a Baltic flavour by adding presentations from other market participants and industries and proving new angles for opinion formation,” Mr Neimanis added.

The Latvian Investment Day has become an extensive information platform for banking and asset management professionals interested in the Baltic States and the CIS. This year the event added a Baltic flavor discussing a broader range of investment topics related to the Baltic States. Latvian Investment Day: the Baltic Outlook in London featured three panel discussions, covering such topics as: Macroeconomic Environment in the Baltics, Banking Sector in the Baltics: Current Outlook and Future Focus and Investment Opportunities in the Baltics. Parex banka’s representatives delivered speeches on Latvian banks’ funding prospectives on the back of global liquidity crunch and Perspective on Investment Opportunities in the Baltic, as well as provided in-depth discussion on Risk Management and Anti Money Laundering issues.

This year the Latvian Investment Day had an extensive program and brought speakers from Bank of Latvia, Ministry of Economics of Latvia, Association of Latvian Commercial Banks, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Mortgage and Land Bank of Latvia, international property advisors Re&Solution and law office Klavins&Slaidins LAWIN.