Latvia's strengths in attracting investment are its people - Jagere

RIGA - People are definitely Latvia's strong point in attracting investments, said Ieva Jagere, Director of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), in an interview with LETA.

She said that Latvia has a skilled workforce - there is a very high proportion of people who speak at least two languages and have higher education.

Jagere also highlighted Latvia's tax framework - Latvia ranks second among OECD countries in terms of business taxes, including a 0 percent corporate tax rate if profits are reinvested.

Jagere also stressed that Latvia has large undeveloped industrial territories, where various tax incentives are also available, as well as a willingness to offer investors specific solutions to their needs. Latvia is also well located geographically, with excellent infrastructure for easy access, including ports and an airport.

She also mentioned the "green corridor" initiative, which provides for faster and more efficient decision-making if an investment project is worth more than EUR 5 million in the regions or EUR 10 million in Riga and the investment has strategic objectives for Latvia.

The LIAA Director said that a total of 39 "green corridor" projects with a total value of EUR 2.4 billion have been approved so far. This year, 14 projects have been approved.

At the same time, also speaking about the difficulties in the investment environment, Jagere said that Latvia's weakness can be people.

For example, if an investor wants to set up a high value-added production facility in Latvia, Latvia may not have any specialists with special qualifications. "However, if we know what investors want in advance, we can start working with universities to create centers of excellence that train specialists in specific areas," she added.

She also mentioned bureaucratic obstacles. Every program of the LIAA and also of the Development Finance Institution Altum is implemented on the basis of a mandate from the Cabinet of Ministers, it is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and every program has corresponding Cabinet regulations.

"Unfortunately, if an investor comes and says that they want something specific that is not in line with the existing programs, then we cannot respond as quickly as we would in private business," Jagere said, noting that it can take up to a year or a year and a half to develop a new program.