After High Council 2022 meeting, FICIL is remodeling the work group set-up to highlight topics that are currently most pressing for FICIL members. This is also aligned with the new FICIL Strategy and priority areas that will bring more benefit to the investment environment of Latvia as a whole. These topics have been emphasised by members during Sentiment Index research, during work group discussions, as well as have been pointed out by various institutions and international organisations as pressing matters for the business environment of Latvia.
FICIL will now hold 6 main work groups that will work on a regular basis, with additional sub-groups that will be called on an ad-hoc basis.
NEW WORK GROUP SET-UP
- Energy & Green Economy WG
- Data & Digital Transformation WG
- Public Sector Reform WG
- Labour force & Re-qualification WG
- Shadow Economy Combating WG
- Investment Protection WG
Please register for the work groups that are of interest to you and invite other representatives of your company to register as well. Invitation to sub-group meetings will be sent to all registered participants for the specific main group and they can choose to attend these based on the pre-prepared agenda.
You will find more detailed information on new work group priorities and sub-groups below
We look forward to continuing organising the work groups within the new format. If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact FICIL Policy Expert, Roberts Alhimionoks (Roberts.Alhimionoks@ficil.lv). We will be happy to discuss any of the work groups in more detail and assist in any manner if necessary.
Main Group: Energy & Green Economy
Leader: Dace Cīrule (BritCham)
Priorities:
- Increase energy independence and security; ensure sufficient capacity of the transmission and distribution electric power grid through reasonable investment and maintenance costs.
- Greening of the transport sector (infrastructure development)
- Enhance energy efficiency of buildings
- Effective ESG policy in country
Sub-group: Green Transport & Infrastructure work group
Main Group: Data & Digital Transformation
Leader: Edvīns Elferts (KPMG)
Priorities:
- One mandated and responsible institution for digitalisation.
- Centralise public sector IT support functions and introduce Centre of Excellence.
- Centralise data governance framework for all public data within public sector.
- Clear legal framework for all data and data-usage in the public and private sector.
Main Group: Public Sector Reform
Leader: Reinis Āzis (VNT)
Priorities:
- Promote cross sectoral cooperation and problem-solving
- Introduce KPIs for state institution employees and evaluate their work and introduce related accountability.
- Analyse the current functions and set up of public sector institutions in line with future and existing challenges and workforce needs.
Main Group: Shadow Economy Combating
Leader: Evita Goša (Schwenk)
Priorities:
- Under the guidance of Ministry of Finance, public sector institutions as separate entities should carry out an assessment of their own activities and identify activities or processes that can contribute to reducing the shadow economy.
- Policymakers should review the current system of liability for tax evasion to reassess the burden of proof related matters in tax evasion cases.
- Improve the effectiveness of SRS: publicly disclose SRS risk assessment criteria; simplify tax calculations of personal income tax and payments of taxes.
Sub-groups:
- Tax Policy work group
Leader: Vita Sakne (PwC)
- Tax Administration work group
Leader: Ilze Berga (KPMG)
- Enforcement of Policy work group
Leader: Andris Lazdiņš (AmCham)
Main Group: Investment Protection
Leader: Māris Vainovskis (Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns)
Priorities:
- Improve quality of legislation process: limit substantial changes to draft laws during second and third readings in Saeima; Implement preambles in statutes.
- Court efficiency: continue digitalisation, introduce stricter disciplines to prevent intentional prolongation.
- Assess and improve efficiency of control mechanisms that monitor the participation of public persons in commercial activity.
Sub-groups:
- Fair Competition & Public Procurement work group
Leader: Māris Butāns (PwC)
- Quality of Legislation work group
Leader: Māris Vainovskis (Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns)
- Court Efficiency & Digitalisation work group
Leader: Daiga Zivtiņa (AmCham)
Main Group: Labour force & Re-qualification
Leaders: Irina Kostina (Amcham) & Claudio Rivera (NCCL)
Priorities:
- Centralise governance over labour force policy, including requalification.
- Define an institution that is accountable for implementing holistic requalification and upskilling policy.
- Minimise barriers for a foreign workforce attraction and create a unified “Work in Latvia” platform to attract foreign workforce.
- Amend and modernise labour lax: part-time aggregated working time; zero-hour contract in the existing regulation.
- Improve sick leave certificate control and issuance process.
Sub-groups:
- Education work group
Leader: Claudio Rivera (NCCL)
- Labour Issues work group
Leader: Irina Kostina (AmCham)
Instead of 13 work groups, FICIL will have 6 groups with several sub-groups and additional experts. Each of the main 6 work groups will host meeting and move forward with the set agenda while the sub-work groups will work as specialised pop-up groups for interested members in specific fields but will adhere and align work with the larger work groups priorities. Experts will only be involved when specific needs arise to consult on next steps.
FICIL experts:
AML – Ulvis Jankavs (SEB)
Construction – Ilze Kramiņa (Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns)
Intellectual Property Protection – Ingrīda Kariņa Bērziņa (Amcham)
We look forward to continuing to organise the work groups within this new format. If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact FICIL Policy Expert, Roberts Alhimionoks (Roberts.Alhimionoks@ficil.lv). We will be happy to discuss any of the work groups in more detail and assist in any manner if necessary.