On June 4, FICIL held a Members’ meeting at Swedbank! The members welcomed two new FICIL members – Rīgas Universālais Termināls (RUT) and Tech Mahindra, and learned about FICIL’s past and upcoming activities. The main topic of the meeting was the financial support instruments available to investors/entrepreneurs in Latvia. For this purpose, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), ALTUM, Latvia Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) and the Ministry of Economics have joined the meeting! 

The Chairperson of the FICIL Board, Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska, provided an update on FICIL activities and underlined that FICIL continues to meet with the public sector representatives, and reviews the FICIL’s strategy to maximise effectiveness of the organisation.  

Before the meeting, FICIL members had to cast an e-vote on two new companies joining FICIL, namely RUT and Tech Mahindra. The members unanimously voted in favour, therefore we are warmly welcoming both companies! During the meeting, the representatives from RUT (Jānis Kasalis, General Manager) and Tech Mahindra (Prem Rawat, Regional Head Service Delivery – Europe) presented an overview of their business goals and activities in Latvia, and elaborated on motivation to join FICIL. 

The meeting was joined by the representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), ALTUM, Latvia Investment and Development Agency (LIAA), and the Ministry of Economics. The guests had an opportunity to present and discuss available financial support instruments. Jurijs Spiridonovs from the EBRD underlined the Banks’ focus on promoting sustainability and resilience, inviting FICIL members to approach the Bank in case they have ambitious plans. Reinis Bērziņš, representing ALTUM, introduced the activities and focus of ALTUM, highlighting the Recovery and Resilience Facility schemes, loans, and other types of financial support mechanisms available to businesses. The representatives from LIAA, Ieva Tumana and Andris Blumbahs, drew attention to the available FDI support programmes and consultation services. Following the presentations, FICIL members asked questions about the available financial support programmes and highlighted associated challenges, such as administrative burden, scale and duration of available programmes. 

We are very grateful to our corporate member, Swedbank, for kindly offering to host FICIL’s meeting at their beautiful premises!