Rail Baltica will facilitate development of north/south economic corridor in the Baltics - Levits

RIGA - The railway infrastructure of the Rail Baltica project will contribute to the development of the north/south economic corridor in the Baltics, said President Egils Levits during a meeting with Minister of Transport Janis Vitenbergs (National Alliance) on Thursday.

As Justine Deicmane, head of the Media Center of the Presidential Chancery, informed LETA, according to Levits, the project has now acquired a security dimension, so any issues that hinder its progress should be urgently addressed.

During the meeting, Levits also drew attention to the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport to facilitate the transformation of the transport and logistics industry in the coming years. Changes are expected both because of the need for a faster reduction of carbon emissions and because of the change in the business model of companies in the industry, including state capital companies.

Levits pointed out that the development of production should be stimulated, especially in ports, and Latvian companies in general should more successfully take their place in European product value chains in order to support the transport and logistics industry.

The need to strengthen the position of the national airline airBaltic in the Baltic and Scandinavian regions was also mentioned in the conversation, as it gives the Latvian economy a strategic advantage.

The President also discussed with Vitenbergs the overall development of Latvia's railway infrastructure, including passenger transportation and deliveries of new electric trains.

During the conversation, the Minister of Transport expressed his support for the intention of creating a Climate and Energy Committee in the Cabinet of Ministers in order to coordinate climate policy between the emission-intensive agriculture and traffic sectors and the Ministry of Climate and Energy.

The investments of the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism were also discussed, some of which are planned to be directed to the development of mobility in Riga and Pieriga.