On February 29th, Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL) met with the State Audit Office. FICIL was represented by Chairperson of the Board Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska, Public Sector Reform work group leader Reinis Āzis and Labour Force & Requalification work group leader Irina Rozenšteina.

Participants discussed the adult education and requalification incentives and challenges in Latvia. The parties discussed the fragmentation of responsibility across multiple state institutions, in the context of adult education. FICIL underlines that this fragmentation not only complicates coordination efforts between institutions but also raises questions about the coherence and effectiveness of strategies aimed at workforce requalification and upskilling. This problem was highlighted by The State Audit Office in their comprehensive State Audit on adult education, published in 2023.

The State Audit Office initiated discussions on the progress achieved in implementing the previous public administration reform. Their audit on the reform was published in early 2022. FICIL’s position papers offers recommendations on the future of public administrations – increased accountability and introduction of specific and measurable KPI’s, comprehensive review and analysis of functions and set-up of public sector institutions, implementation of a performance-based budgeting.

The parties agree to continue the collaboration in the future for issues relevant to the foreign investors.