We hope everyone had excellent summer! As we just concluded the FICIL High Council 2022 Meeting at the beginning of September, let us look back at the highlights of the three-day event.

FICIL High Council 2022

In September, FICIL members and high-level public sector representatives met at the 26th High Council Meeting. This year, FICIL concentrated on areas that need the most improvement such as quality of legislation, public sector reform, energy independence with the ultimate aim to ensure an attractive investment environment.

High Council Meeting kicked off on the 7 of September with a reception hosted by the President of Latvia, H.E. Mr. Egils Levits. Participants discussed topics that are crucial for both improving the current investment climate in Latvia and attracting new investment.

On the second day, the 8 of September, FICIL members meeting was joined by the Prime Minister of Latvia, Mr. Krišjānis Kariņš. The discussion focused on geopolitical challenges, energy independence and public sector transformation. In the afternoon, FICIL held four different work groups together with public sector representative on: Labour force availability – re-qualification policy, Fair competition during crisis (focus on combating shadow economy), Energy independence and Public sector reform.

On the 9 of September, FICIL Board met with the Prime Minister and other representatives from the Cabinet of Ministers.  FICIL presented the main recommendations to improve business climate and discuss ways to address the most pressing issues that businesses experience. During the meeting the Chairperson of FICIL Board, Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska and the Prime Minister of Latvia, Krišjānis Kariņš signed a joint communiqué outlining steps that the Government should take to improve Latvia’s competitiveness.

You can watch the FICIL High Council video and access the gallery.

Position Papers

In preparation for the High Council Meeting, FICIL work group leaders and members developed Position Papers to highlight current challenges and opportunities. The Position Papers are submitted to the policy makers and served as the basis for discussions during the High Council and further work to improve the business environment of Latvia.

This year, FICIL prepared 9 position papers that are available here. We would like to thank all those involved for their tremendous work on this year’s Position Papers!

Pre-election debate with Prime Minister candidates on vision for Latvia’s economic future

With the Saeima’s election just around the corner, on 12 of September FICIL, together with several foreign chambers of commerce, organised a pre-election debate with Prime Minister candidates from several political parties (largest parties based on the SPKD survey data in July and August). The debate focused on parties’ vision for Latvia’s future and priorities for increasing competitiveness and strengthening the economy under the current geopolitical circumstances.

The key topic of the debate explored the economic security of Latvia, considering the following key pillars – strengthening energy diversification, transition to low carbon resources, the development of human capital considering demographic change and ensuring a level playing field and fair competition.

You can watch the full debate here.

FICIL work groups

The 26th High Council Meeting certainly provided us with plenty of material to work with during the next season and follow-up meetings with ministries and other public sector representatives are already in the works. After reflecting on the outcome of the High Council FICIL work groups are slowly restarting. However, we would like to let you know that changes are on the way regarding work group set-up at FICIL. More information will follow in the upcoming months.

• FICIL Green Economy Development work group met on 22 September to discuss the current priorities, next steps and the next planned meetings. The work group plans to meet every other Thursday at 8AM.
• FICIL Labour Force Issue & Requalification work group is planning to meet on 30 September to discuss the current priorities and plan all the upcoming meetings.

You can still sign up for FICIL work groups by filling in the form here or by e-mailing ficil@ficil.lv. Full list of FICIL’s work groups is available here.

To find out more, follow us on Twitter and Facebook or visit our webpage www.ficil.lv

-Your FICIL Team