Balta CEO and Luminor representative appointed to Foreign Investors Council's board

RIGA - Balta insurance company's chairman of the board Iain Kennedy and Luminor bank Corporate Department's head Ilze Zoltnere have been appointed to the Executive Board of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL).

According to FICIL, Kennedy has over 15 years of experience in insurance, working in Latvia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic and United Kingdom. On the other hand, Zoltnere has top level management experience in multiple auto industry companies, in finance, telecommunications and media industry.

FICIL board chairwoman Gunta Jekabsone said: "I am glad to welcome the new board members in our team. Their experience will broaden our competences and strengthen our organization's capability to make far-sighted and strategic decisions. Our mission is to be the one voice of foreign-owned companies in Latvia, therefore it is important to have a broad range of perspectives in our decision-making process."

FICIL's board is led by Jekabsone, executive director of Circle-K Latvia. Ints Krasts, board member of SEB Latvia, and Meris Gruznins, board member of Schwenk Latvija serve as vice-chairs of the board. Arnis Sauka, professor at SSE Riga, Baiba Apine of PwC as well as Zinta Jansons, partner at Klavins Ellex law firm are also members of FICIL board.

FICIL is a non-governmental organization, which unites 38 largest foreign-owned companies from different industries, 10 foreign trade chambers, the French Foreign Trade Advisors and Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. FICIL's mission is to use the experience and knowledge of its members to provide recommendations for public sector to improve Latvia's business environment and competitiveness in attracting foreign investment.