On Wednesday 17 January, Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis participated in a seminar organized by the Confederation of Spanish Entrepreneurs in Madrid with a focus on economic cooperation between Latvia and Spain.
Addressing the audience, M. Kučinskis pointed out that Latvia is interested in joint cooperation projects between the companies, scientific institutions and higher education institutions of both countries in the fields of bio-economics, biomedicine, smart materials and smart energy, information and communication technologies. The Spanish entrepreneurs were informed that Latvia has set up a special regime to encourage the activities of start-ups in order to promote the development of fast growing technology companies and the development of new innovative ideas. The growth of gross domestic product this year is, in turn, projected at 5%. The economic growth forecasts of Latvia for the coming years remain stable, and this is due to both investment flows and strong internal and external demand.
It was also pointed out that Rīga is a connecting city and a leader in the Baltic Sea region - for tourists, businessmen, and freight flows. The advantage of Latvia is its ability to efficiently handle transit and freight flows through ports, railways, and airports. Latvia - a leader of the region, provides multimodal transport and logistics solutions from East to West and from North to South connecting Northern Europe, Russia and CIS countries. The Riga International Airport is, in turn, a platform for tourism and business flows in northern Europe and routes to Central Asia. As the result of the successful cooperation between airlines AirBaltic and Iberia, regular flights to Barcelona are being provided, and trips to Madrid will resume from 25 March. Seasonal flights to Palma de Majorca and Malaga are provided. "I call for the use of Latvia as a platform for the creation of innovative solutions and as a regional centre for the flow of tourists, businessmen, goods and services," said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also emphasized that Latvia has all the prerequisites for becoming an innovation and technology platform in northern Europe.
"A unified ecosystem for the support of innovations has been established in Latvia, an essential component of which is the concept of a data-based nation that has been developed by the Government. The essence of this concept is the opening of public data, effective involvement of society and the development of new products with a view to increase the productivity of enterprises in different sectors," said M. Kučinskis.
The reforms implemented in Latvia were welcomed at the entrepreneurs' seminar with a special emphasis on the tax reform adopted last year, which has already come into force this year.
Within the framework of the visit, M. Kučinskis also visited the international tourism exhibition FITUR in Madrid, aimed at promoting tourism, cooperation in the transport and logistics sector, where he met with experts working in the Latvian stand.
Information prepared by:
Andrejs Vaivars
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
Phone: 29228678
E-mail: Andrejs.Vaivars@mk.gov.lv