We kicked off the new season with a members’ meeting at the recently renovated AC Hotel by Marriott Riga, kindly hosted by Vastint. It was a busy afternoon with several important decisions being made by FICIL membership.

First of all, FICIL members voted unanimously in favour of BITE Latvija joining FICIL and kindly welcomed its newest member. Here you will find out more on BITE Latvija.

Secondly, we have two new board members as a result of the meeting – Iain Kennedy (Balta) and Ilze Zoltnere (Luminor). For more detailed information and photos from the event, please visit our website.

FICIL 20th anniversary

FICIL will soon celebrate its 20th with its members, partners and friends. The event will take place on 10 October, arrival from 17:30 venue: VEF Kvartāla Kamerzāle. If you have received an invitation and have not yet managed to RSVP, please do so because more information on the course of the event is coming this week!

FICIL in Action

FICIL Energy and waste management work group leader, Mrs. Dace Cīrule, has represented FICIL in several meeting at the Parliament Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee meeting, where the issue of packaging deposit system has been discussed.

Mr. Māris Vainovskis represented foreign investors viewpoint at a Ministry of Justice’s organised panel “Effectiveness of the procedural framework in handling commercial and economic crime cases” with the aim to discuss the necessity and benefits of specialised commercial courts in Latvia. Some of the questions discussed included procedural difficulties regarding involved parties, as well as misuse of procedural regulation.

As the topic of higher education institution governance is heating up, FICIL Education work group leader Mr. Claudio Rivera has been actively participating in Ministry of Education seminars, starting the conversation with different stakeholders concerning the future of higher education institutions in Latvia.

FICIL Labour issues work group held a meeting with the Ministry of Health to bring to the forefront issues concerning unjustified issuance of sick leave certificates and employer’s ability to find out information of issuance of these certificates. The conversation and cooperation will continue to find a solution regarding these questions.

This is the 5th year for FICIL’s Sentiment Index research, with the aim to gain valuable insights in changes and challenges in Latvia’s investment climate and business environment by surveying the biggest foreign investors in Latvia. The interviews by FICIL Board members have already started in full swing and will continue throughout October. This year, the launch event will take place 15 January 2020 but more updates will be coming in due course.

FICIL executive director Mr. Mārtiņš Panke, and FICIL Investment protection and court efficiency work group leader, Mr. Māris Vainovskis, met with representatives of the European Commission who are preparing the economic forecast for Latvia. The discussion focused on the investment climate and business environment tendencies in Latvia.

FICIL work groups are actively holding meetings with the aim to set priorities for this season and discuss topical issues that are currently at the centre of attention concerning the business climate. The calendar on the FICIL website front page has up-to-date information concerning dates and times of the work group meetings. To register for any of the work groups, please follow this link. If you have any questions or would like more detailed information concerning specific work group planned activities please contact FICIL project director Linda Helmane at ficil@ficil.lv

To find out more, follow us on Twitter or visit our webpage www.ficil.lv 
-Your FICIL Team