Summer is fast approaching, so let us take a look back at what FICIL has done over the last month. During May we held various meetings with work group leaders and members to discuss position paper structures and recommendations so to begin the writing stage before the upcoming High Council meeting in September.

Apart from coordinating various work group meetings and holding an in-person meeting with President’s Advisors at Riga Castle, FICIL organised its first in-person members meeting this year at Business Center Origo One, where members were joined by guest speaker Minister of Defence, Dr. Artis Pabriks. You can read more below!

SAVE THE DATE – Sentiment Index: Election Edition launch event will take place on 13 June at 10 am

FICIL Sentiment Index: Election Edition presentation launch event will be held on 13 of June from 10:00 to 12:00 at Wellton Riverside Hotel. The event will be opened with a brief presentation from professor at Stockholm School of Economics Mr. Arnis Sauka. The short presentation will be followed by discussion among representatives of political parties and investors about the most pressing issues surrounding investment climate in Latvia, such as energy security, green economy development, shadow economy and availability of workforce. Discussion will be moderated by Mr. Jānis Domburs.

You can attend by registering here. Or follow the event online – it will be livestreamed on LSM.lv with English translation available on eng.LSM.lv.

FICIL Members meeting 

On 30 May, FICIL held a members meeting at Origo One Business Center hosted by Linstow. The agenda was jam packed, with Dr. Artis Pabriks, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, opening the meeting. A discussion among Dr. Pabriks and investors was followed by presentation about FICIL updated strategy and priorities by the Chairperson of FICIL Executive Board, Ms. Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska.

When presenting FICIL’s updated strategy and priorities Chairperson of FICIL Executive Board Ms. Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska reflected that FICIL looks to narrow down key priorities so that concise recommendations can be proposed to the Government. Achieving energy security in line with EU’s Green Goals, reducing shadow economy, addressing issues surrounding availability of workforce and comprehensive public sector reform are the main FICIL priorities.

The guest speaker Minister of Defence, Dr. Artis Pabriks introduced FICIL members to Latvia’s defence priorities and planned future developments. Minister assured foreign investors that Latvia is a member of the European Union and a member of the strongest military alliance in the world – NATO. Therefore, citizens and investors should not worry, because due to NATO’s collective defence guarantees Latvia is as safe as any NATO member state. You can read more about FICIL Members meeting on our website here.

FICIL and Latvia’s Presidents Advisers discuss public sector transformation

On 24 May, FICIL members from multiple work groups were joined by Legal Policy Adviser to the President of Latvia Mr. Jānis Pleps, and Information and Digital Policy Adviser to the President of Latvia Ms. Ieva Ilvesa at Riga Castle to discuss improvements in the court system, public sector modernisation, public sector cooperation to implement cross sectoral policies and quality of legislation. FICIL emphasised a greater need for inter-institution cooperation among public sector institutions when implementing large, impactful, and comprehensive policies, such as digitalisation and EU’s Green Deal. You can read the full article here.

New FICIL Member – DPD Latvija

During FICIL Member Meeting on 30 May, members voted in favour of DPD Latvija joining FICIL. Welcome DPD Latvija.

Chairman of the Board of DPD Latvija, Mr. Jānis Grants emphasised “DPD Latvija is the market leader in parcel deliveries Latvia, which focuses on providing high quality delivery services to businesses, private individuals and offer a wide network of parcel lockers. DPD is the first parcel delivery service in Latvia that provides 100% CO2 neutral deliveries, free of charge to its customers, while using its fleet of 27 electric powered vehicles. We at DPD Latvija are focusing on providing only the best quality of delivery service to our customers while using, implementing, and developing various long-term sustainable solutions. In near future, we plan to launch an Air quality monitoring project that will allow access to data about the quality of air at a given location. We hope to provide a tool for well-informed decisions that aim to improve the quality of air for everyone!” You can read about FICIL new member – DPD Latvija here.

FICIL work groups

“Investors expect a level playing field, stability, long-term predictability ,and fair and thought-out regulations when it comes to investing in sectors that will assist in Latvia’s green transition, such as renewable energy.”
– Ms. Dace Cīrule, FICIL Green Economy Development work group leader

• On 11 May work group met with Head of Sustainability at Bank of Latvia, Mr. Edvards Kušners to discuss green economy development, Latvia’s Green Strategy and the impact green transition will have on Latvia’s economy.
• Work group met with Deputy Head and Head of Policy Unit of European Commissions’ representation in Latvia, Mr. Mārtiņš Zemītis on 19 May to learn more about the new REPowerEU plan that sets out measures to improve energy savings, diversify energy supplies, accelerate the roll-out of renewable energy to foster EU’s energy security while simultaneously working towards achieving EU’s green aims.
• On 25 May work group was joint by representatives from Competition Council to discuss fair competition in waste management policy. FICIL emphasised the need to maintain fair competition and avoid changes to regulations that disrupt the already established and effective business environment.
• FICIL also sent two letters – on 6 May to Competition Council answering the questions that were proposed to FICIL members about waste management policy; and on 13 May to Investment and Development Agency of Latvia to outline recommendations so to reduce barriers to develop renewable energy for business’s own use.

• On 3 May work group met with Ministry of Finance to hear more about the EU’s and OECD’s proposals on Pillar I and II, that ensure minimum corporate tax rate for multinational companies. The work group members wanted to learn more about the practical implication and planned timeline for implementing the new proposals.
• Work group held an internal discussion on 10 May to discuss tax aspects to combat shadow economy. During the meeting work group members emphasised the need for efficient and effective tax, as well as need for more effective State Revenue Service when enforcing regulations to disrupt players participating in shadow economy.
• On 31 May work group discussed ways to increase effectiveness of tax administration and increase the the efficiency of State Revenue Service.

• On 2 May work group leader Mr. Andris Lazdiņš and Mr. Ulvis Jankavs met with leaders of FICIL Digitalisation and Tax Policy & Administration work groups to discuss recommendations and priorities to combat shadow economy.
• Work group leaders held another meeting on 30 May, this time joined by FICIL Executive Board Chairperson Ms. Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska and leaders of FICIL Tax Policy and Administration work group to continue discussion about shadow economy and FICIL’s priorities for the upcoming position paper about fighting shadow economy.

Upcoming work group meetings

Work groups are in the position papers writing stage and are continuing to meet with public sector institutions to better understand and clarify certain aspects in relation to the upcoming FICIL position papers.

Tax Policy and Administration work group is planning to meet on 7 June. The June meeting will focus on continuing the discussion about tax aspects in combatting shadow economy.

Green Economy Development work group is planning to hold meetings in June with Procurement Monitoring Bureau, State Treasury, and other institutions to discuss enforcing green criteria in procurement processes, Latvia’s Green Strategy and its developments. Also, work group plans to continue discussion about renewable energy production, increasing electricity prices.

Anti-corruption, Economic Crime & Shadow Economy work group is looking to organise an internal meeting to discuss the proposed recommendations to combat shadow economy and crystallize these recommendations into practical next steps for the Government and policymakers.