OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2013. Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, during the farewell visit of Walter Haffner, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Latvia, acknowledged Ambassador’s contribution towards development of bilateral relations and sought Switzerland’s support for the accession of Latvia to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

During the meeting the Latvian Prime Minister emphasised Latvia’s readiness to join the OECD by underlining the main achievements of our country in various reforms and Latvia’s interests regarding cooperation with this organisation. Valdis Dombrovskis also informed about the measures undertaken concerning Latvia’s plans to join the euro zone.

The Prime Minister expressed his high appreciation of bilateral relations of both countries and of support received by Latvia during previous five years by particularly pointing out to the support provided within the framework of the five-year Swiss-Latvian Cooperation Programme. Under this Programme 12 projects have been approved amounting to a total funding of 33 million Latvian lats.

Walter Haffner, by taking a look back, acknowledged close and enriching cooperation, as well as new valuable contacts and greater understanding of the Latvian culture and people. The Ambassador also acknowledged the economic development of Latvia and expressed his support regarding Latvia’s plans to join the euro zone.

Trade indicators of Latvia and Switzerland:

In quarters 1-3 of 2012 exports of goods and products increased by 1.5% while exports of services increased by 36.1% in comparison with the same period in 2011. By total trade volume Switzerland with 95.64 million EUR ranks as the 26th biggest Latvia’s foreign trade partner. At the end of Q3 of 2012 direct investments of Switzerland into Latvia amounted to 153.7 million EUR. The main investment areas include transport, communications, wholesale and retail trade, as well as storage of cargoes and products.