OREANDA-NEWS. June 09, 2012. Located in the center of the Baltic states region, Latvia could provide a more efficient cargo transportation between neighbouring countries, said Anrijs Matiss State secretary Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Latvia, at the TransBaltica-2012 conference.

 “The concept of cargo delivery in 24 or 48 hours from the republic to Scandinavian countries or Russia is developing fast. Cargo flows via our ports, railways, and air harbor increase, and we are able to become the logistic centre of the region,” he added.

In the words of Mr Matiss, the competitiveness of the corridor may increase doe to investments into infrastructure from the EU funds. The Transport Ministry is now developing a new 2014-2020 investment policy, where transit and transport will be the priorities.

Mr Matiss also mentioned that starting from 2004 the passenger flow via the Riga airport grew fivefold and amounted to 5 million people; the republic’s ports and Latvijas dzelzceпр (LDz) service the increasing volume of cargo transportation between the markets of Europe, the CIS states, Asia, and Russia. The throughput of Latvian ports rose to 27.11 million tons in January-April 2012, a 19.5% increase year-on-year. The throughput of all ports – in Riga, Ventspils, and Liepaja, - also increased.

LDz Cargo transported 23.1 million tons in the first four months of 2012, a 13.8% increase year-on-year, he added.