Latvia's military technology sector has great export potential - Pabriks

RIGA - Latvia's military technology industry has great export potential, as Latvian companies have extensive experience in robotics, where they can maintain their niche, and also have the potential to attract investment, Artis Pabriks, Executive Director of the Military Technology, Drone and Robotics Association (MilTech), told LETA.

In his opinion, Latvia is ahead of a number of Western countries in the development and production of various types of drones, but this advantage is fragile because Western countries have greater production and technological potential. Therefore, both the country and the association need to be actively involved in order to maintain the niche they have carved out for themselves.

"If we want the military technology industry to develop, we need to remove three bottlenecks - bureaucracy, slow procurement and access to funding in general," Pabriks said.

Pabriks explained that a large part of Latvian drone manufacturers are start-ups, able to produce a few test models, but if they are not bought, they cannot develop them and cannot get funding.

Pabriks stressed that drone manufacturers would like to have longer-term and larger-scale purchases from the National Armed Forces, but at the moment there are few orders for drones from domestic manufacturers. A venture capital fund from the state would be needed to develop companies and facilitate access to finance, Pabriks said. One is currently being set up, but has not yet started operations.

Similarly, exports abroad are already taking place, but the volumes are not yet that large, Pabriks said, stressing that this is also the task of the MilTech Association - to help reach the customer.

Asked how the association had developed over the year, Pabriks said that the Military Technology, Drone and Robotics Association was founded about a year ago, because until then there was no format in Latvia that brought together manufacturing companies working in all types of drone production, robotics technology.

The association was founded by six companies and now has more than 30 members, Pabriks said. Among them, the association brings together about 90 percent of Latvia's drone manufacturers - not only aerial drone manufacturers, but also land and sea drone manufacturers.