Economy, business opportunities and investment climate in Latvia

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Economy, business opportunities and investment
climate in Latvia

• Dina Eglite, Representative Office in USA,
  Investment and Development Agency of Latvia
• November 14, 2007

2
Role of LIAA within Latvian economy

• Main activities
• Attraction of foreign direct investment
• Promotion of foreign trade
• Administration of state aids via EU
• Structural Funds
• LIDA services
• Information on doing business in Latvia
• Contacts with Latvian business partners
• Identification of best property options
• Assistance with start-up procedures
• Investment project follow-up
• Legal assistance

WAIPA ranked LIAA the best Investment Promotion
Agency in CEE LIAA received the classification
WORLD CLASS AGENCY
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Basic facts about Latvia

• Population 2.3 million
• GDP (2006) 16.028 billion EUR
• GDP per capita (2006) 7002 EUR
• GDP growth (2006) 11.9
• Accumulated FDI (2006) 5.744 billion EUR
• Accumulated FDI per capita (2006) 2504 EUR

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Latvia Strategic Geographic Position
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Latvias business qualifiers
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Stable macroeconomics environment

• Strong currency Lat, pegged to EUR 1 LVL 1.42
  EUR

• Credit ratings Moodys A2 Standard Poor's A-
  Fitch A-
• Stable economic growth

Source Eurostat
7
Cumulative FDI into Latvia 2000-2007 2q (FDI
stock in billion EUR)
Growth of investment among the highest in EU
Source Bank of Latvia
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Latvias competitive environment
Low taxes 15 CIT
Open market
Low bureaucratic obstacles

• Equal treatment of foreign investors

Latvia is ranked among the top twenty countries
worldwide in terms of business start-up
time (World Bank, IFC, 2005)
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Business incentives in Latvia

• Special Economic Zones Riga, Ventspils,
  Liepaja, Rezekne
• 80 rebate on real estate tax and CIT calculated
  on 25 (valid until 2017)
• 15 CIT
• 15 Personal income tax by 2009

• From 2006 special depreciation rebates for
  all enterprises
• EU Structural funds include 4 state support
  programs for private businesses

10
Highly skilled, multi-lingual labour force
High university enrolment rates (2006/2007
indicators)

• 129 503 students
• 56.6 students per 1 000 inhabitants
• 23 of places are state subsidised
• 15.6 study engineering and natural sciences
• 54.3 study social sciences

Source Ministry of Science and Education
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Latvia - USA opportunities for cooperation

• Traditional sectors
• Forestry and woodworking
• Metalworking and engineering, including
  electronics
• Chemicals, bio-tech and pharmaceuticals
• Fashion and light industry
• Food industry
• Financial services
• Transport Logistics
• Promising new directions
• High-tech, including IT, RD
• Hospitality and tourism
• Development of high value-added and knowledge
  based sectors are national economic priorities

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High-tech and knowledge-based sectors

• Strong higher education system
• State support over 860 million euros for
  2007-2013
• Local qualified human resources
• RD
• Developed ICT infrastructure
• Traditions in knowledge-based sectors
• Cooperation between businesses, state structures,
  and educational institutions
• Modern know-how

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U.S. BALTIC INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
MISSIONTO LATVIASEPTEMBER 12 - 15, 2007

• 12th International Conference Baltic Dynamics
  2007
• 400 participants from 35 countries
• American business delegation - more than 20 tech
  CEOs and research, academic and business
  representatives from around the U.S.
• Among them were
• Argonne National Laboratory,
• U.S. Civilian Research and Development
  Foundation,
• U.S. Association of University Technology
  Managers,
• California State University,
• Wake Forest University
• Polymer Technologies,
• Telos-Systems,
• Calspan University of Buffalo Research Center
• U.S National Science Foundation

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Case Study Institute of Organic Synthesis

• Over 60 chemical processes were developed.
• Signed option agreements in field of new
  cardiovascular medicines with Rhone Poulenc and
  Servier (France), Marion, Bristol Meyers and Ciba
  Geigy(USA).
• Selling of licenses to the Western companies. The
  license of ftorafur (tegafur) was sold to the
  Taiho (Japan), what lead to the reaching of the
  position no1 between synthetic anticancer drugs
  on the Japanese market.
• Co-development of new medicines. Institute
  cooperated with Taiho Pharmaceuticals, Nipon
  Soda, Nikken Chemicals (Japan), Sanol Schwarz
  (Germany)
• Agreements with Merck KGaA,
• Astra Zeneca, Johnson Johnson

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Alfa RPAR
Baltic Solar
Hologramma, Difra, Plazma
TNO (Holland) Daugavpils U RTU
CFI
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Solar Energy Management through Nanotechnology

• Using 45-year Sidrabe experience in vacuum thin
  film coatings to produce next-generation solar
  panels, smart glass and energy control
• Competence Center between Sidrabe, GroGlass,
  Hologramma, TNO and Solid State Physics Institute
  in existence since 2004
• EUR 30 million invested into the first set of
  products from idea to commercialization in 3.5
  years
• GroGlass will be able to produce the new products
  generated by the competence center as early as
  2008

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Future events and projects

• 14th Nordic Baltic Conference on Biomedical
  Engineering NBC - 14, June 16-20, 2008, Riga,
  Latvia is an international event of high
  scientific standards with long lasting tradition,
  held every third year in one of the Nordic
  Baltic countries under the auspices of the
  International Federation for Medical and
  Biological Engineering http//www.rtu.lv/nbc14/
• Advanced Optical Materials and Devices, 2008,
  Riga, Latvia an international conference will
  be the 6th event in the biennial series of the
  International Society for Optical Engineering
  (SPIE) in the Baltics
• Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 17-23,
  2008
• Baltic Dynamics 2008, Tartu, Estonia
  http//www.innovation.lv/baltdyn07/

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Perfect place for business - and leisure!
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Welcome to Latvia!
1776 K Street, NW, Suite 814, Washington, DC,
20006 Phone [phone] Fax [phone]
3703 E-mail us_at_liaa.gov.lv http//www.liaa.gov.lv
http//www.exim.lv