OREANDA-NEWS. May 27, 2011. The annual meeting between the government and the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL) was held. During the meeting, the foreign investors recognized the government’s progress in stabilizing the economy and implementing structural reforms, as well as called for sustaining economic growth.

The Prime Minister V. Dombrovskis emphasized: “We see foreign investments as an important source for faster economic recovery, jobs creation and export-oriented growth. The government appreciates foreign investors’ continued support for setting priorities with a view to improve the business environment and make Latvia attractive for investments”. The Honorary Chairman of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia, President and CEO of GE Nordic Region & Baltic States said: “Foreign investors recognize the level of openness in discussions with the government, which is high compared to other countries. It should be stressed that close cooperation between business, government and educational institutions is the key factor for economic growth”.

During the meeting, the investors expressed support to the government’s ambition to adopt the euro by 2014 that would demonstrate achievement of specific, effective and sustainable economic objectives. V. Dombrovskis noted that: “The government has strong commitment to meet the criteria for adoption of the euro by 2014 and relies on the foreign investors’ support for this objective”.

The participants of the meeting appreciated the government’s progress in improving the macroeconomic situation and meeting the requirements of the international loan. The investors called for the government to take next steps to improve the business and investment climate, to implement long-term strategic goals and consider demographic trends. The Prime Minister stressed that the 2012 budget will still require consolidation, however, we have attained economic stabilization and thus it will be possible to focus more on development and medium-term objectives.

The foreign investors emphasized the importance of implementing the good corporate governance principles in state-owned enterprises and professional management of state properties. In 2010, for the first time in Latvia, information on state- owned assets was made public and by the end of this year a strategy for management of state- owned enterprises will be drafted to develop a dynamic economy of the 21st century and promote investment attraction.

FICIL recognized government’s progress in relation to establishing the Coordination Council for Large and Strategically Important Investment Projects and introducing the investment attraction methodology Polaris, which envisages common and coordinated activities of the Latvian line ministries, local governments, infrastructure companies and public authorities in the implementation of significant local and foreign investment projects.

The participants of the meeting agreed on the need to continue the implementation of structural reforms to retain and increase Latvia’s competitiveness. FICIL considers that evolutionary transformation of certain sectors and territorial capacity pooling is needed, thus reducing the negative impact of demographic trends, which put additional pressure on taxes, the social safety net, economic growth and maintaining of living standards.

FICIL stressed that reduction of the grey economy, conducting of public procurement in line with the underlying principles for public procurement in the European Union, effectively organized performance of the public sector with clear principles for cooperation between the public and private sector, consistency in decision-making, balancing of bureaucratic rules and administrative requirements, as well as promotion of predictability, transparency and efficiency in public administration are the key measures to improve the business environment and to create positive motivation for both local and foreign investors in line with effective normative regulation. The aforementioned measures would promote the national economic development, while maintaining low inflation and increasing revenues for the state and businesses.

During the meeting, the FICIL submitted written recommendations and proposals to the government – Position Papers on: the Macroeconomic Situation; Tax System and Tax Administration; Capital Markets’ Development; Sustainable Mobility; On the Amendments to the Public Procurement Regulation. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Communique of the 15th High Council Meeting between the Government of Latvia and the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia was adopted outlining the themes discussed during the meeting and the development objectives with a view to continue the dialogue on improving the business environment and investment climate in the country. The foreign investors expressed their commitment to further improve the business environment and investment climate in the country by discussing both specific and broad strategic proposals with the government and by following up the progress of their implementation. The next meeting between the government of Latvia and the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia is scheduled in the spring of 2012.

On behalf of the Latvian government the meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Economics, Minister for Education and Science, Minister for Welfare, Minister for Transport and Minister for Health.