FICIL High Council Meeting 2021

The High Council 2021 was held on 16-17 September 

In September 2021, FICIL and high-level public sector representatives met at the 25th High Council Meeting. As global trends and external factors have put governments across the world at crossroads regarding the steps they want to take to address the existing and looming challenges, Latvia too must take decisive action that will shape its investment climate over the next decade and beyond. 

This year, FICIL brought special attention to areas that will affect all parts of the society and require urgent attention in order to ensure the competitiveness of Latvia in the long-term. These areas are green economy transformation, digitalisation, human capital development, and predictability of the investment climate. Centralised governance, long-term vision in policy-making, strengthened data policy and capacity were some of the key topics echoed throughout FICIL’s Position Papers and the two-day High Council event. 

FICIL High Council 2021 kicked off on the 16th of September with an internal members meeting featuring Kaspars Rožkalns , Director General of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia. The internal meeting was followed by a public discussion on requalification policy and how it could serve as the engine for economic recovery. Investors were very keen to participate in a lively discussion with the distinguished panelists: 

Gatis Eglītis – Minister of Welfare 

Arvils Ašeradens – Chairman of the Saeima Education, Culture and Science Committee 

Evita Simsone – Head of the State Employment Agnecy 

Oļegs Krasnopjorovs – Chief Economist of the Macroeconomic Analysis Division at the Bank of Latvia 

Jānis Paiders – Department Deputy Director at the Ministry of Education and Science. 

On the second day of High Council, FICIL representatives met with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as held four parallel working groups with public and private sector participation on the following topics: shadow economy & investment climate predictability; green transport implementation; skills of workforce & requalification; state digital strategy.