We are fast approaching the end of 2023! In early November, the 27th High Council Meeting occurred. Let us look back at the High Council meeting and delve into other news from November and December!

FICIL High Council 2023

On 2 November, High Council 2023 kicked off with a meeting with the Minister of Economics Mr. Viktors Valainis. The primary focus of the 27th High Council was on economic development of Latvia for all, addressing key issues regarding workforce availability, good governance, shadow economy, fair competition, digitalisation, quality of legislation, and legal environment, as well as climate and energy policies.

The day continued with an internal members meeting, welcoming two new FICIL members – Ignitis Renewables and Northway Clinic!

Day 1 of High Council 2023 concluded with four work group meetings attended by policy-makers from various public sector institutions:

• Human capital development;
• Data-based decision-making;
• Public procurement process improvement;
• Good governance.

During the Human capital development work group, participants were divided into smaller groups and asked to reflect on challenges Latvia can face when it comes to the workforce and worked on the Human Capital Development Strategy project. Participants from the Ministry of Economics, the Ministry of Education and Science, and other public institutions were involved. Meanwhile, the Data-based decision-making work group was focused on planning a pilot project for health data and was partly moderated by the State Chancellery. However, the good governance work group focused on analysing aspects of good governance for state-owned corporations and ways to improve it, including outlining benefits for state-owned companies in accessing public capital markets. Lastly, in the public procurement work group representatives from public administration and investors discussed the challenges public institutions and investors face regarding the public procurement process and implementation of green procurement in public administration.

On November 3, FICIL Board met with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. FICIL put forth recommendations aimed at improving the business climate and discussed strategies to address the existing challenges faced by businesses. During this meeting, Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska, the Chairperson of the FICIL Board, and the Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Siliņa, formalised their discussions by signing a joint communiqué outlining steps that the Government should take to improve Latvia’s competitiveness. For a visual overview of the FICIL High Council meeting, you can explore the gallery.

Position papers

Ahead of the High Council meeting, FICIL work group leaders and members developed Position Papers to highlight current challenges and opportunities.

This year, FICIL prepared 6 position papers:

• Rule of Law
• Level Playing Field
• Sustainable for the Future
• Future Public Administration
• People
• Economic Development of Latvia for All

We express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to the creation of this year’s Position Papers!

Work Groups

Work group meeting in November:

On 9th and 30th, FICIL’s Energy & Green economy work group met to discuss Climate law, topics related to renewable energy, issues with environmental impact assessment and territorial planning, and to plan future trajectories.

Upcoming work group meetings in December:

On 14th – FICIL Energy & Green Economy work group plans to discuss the updated National Climate and Energy Plan until 2030.

On 20th – FICIL Shadow economy work group plans to discuss the Plan for Reducing Shadow Economy (2024-2027) and plan for next years activities.

If you would like to participate in any of the work groups or find out more information, please contact FICIL policy expert Roberts Alhimionoks (Roberts.Alhimionoks@ficil.lv)

Changes in the FICIL office

As you have probably heard, FICIL’s Executive Director Linda Helmane will be taking on a new challenge as of beginning of January. We will miss her dearly and wish her success in all future endeavours. In the meantime, a competitive selection process for the position of the Executive Director has been launched and we are looking to give you more updates in the upcoming weeks.

 

 

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-Your FICIL Team