US&FCS Stockholm, with support from US&FCS Helsinki and American Embassy Riga, and in conjunction with the American Chambers of Commerce in Sweden and Latvia, will coordinate, organize, recruit, and manage a two-day Business Opportunities Mission to Riga, Latvia, March 31 - April 1, 1998.
Participants will spend one day meeting with Latvian government leaders, the Latvian Investment Agency, and business related multiplier groups. The second day will be devoted to one-on-one as well as group meetings with the Latvian business community and visits to sites of commercial interest. Participants will include 15-20 U.S. company representatives responsible for their companies' corporate activity in the Baltic states.
COMMERCIAL SETTING
Since re-achieving independence in 1991, Latvia has made striking progress toward restoring a market economy and completing reforms to help recapture the prosperity of the pre-World War II years. With a population of 2.5 million, Latvia is a relatively small, but attractive market for American products. One of the country's strongest business attractions is its location as a commercial, financial, and transportation hub for the Russia/Baltic region. Latvia is a central Baltic State with just over a third of its population is concentrated in Riga, the largest city in the Baltics.
The commercial environment is very friendly to American companies. Latvia and the United States have signed a bilateral agreement on trade relations and intellectual property rights protection (1994) and a bilateral investment treaty (1996.) The country has no controls on import, export, or use and conversion of foreign currencies, making investment and repatriation of profits exceptionally easy. The Latvian government has adopted modern laws establishing copyrights, patents, and trademarks. American companies have the advantage of the U.S. hosting the largest Latvian immigrant community in the world. Hundreds of Latvian-Americans have returned to Latvia to assume leading roles in business. Most U.S. companies doing business in Latvia rate the business environment as among the best in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union.
The Latvian economy is still in the process of restructuring. The highly educated and increasingly sophisticated population will help accelerate the transformation to a modern economy. However, marked disparities between the capital and the rest of the country are likely to persist for some years.
MISSION GOALS
The mission will assist representatives of American companies responsible for business activity in the Baltic States with their effort to identify profitable opportunities for U.S. companies and to increase U.S. export potential. In addition, we will begin to develop an American-Latvian business network, such that, through the good offices of the American Chambers in each country, private sector business leaders can strengthen their commercial relationships.
MISSION SCENARIO
Participants will arrive Monday evening. Tuesday morning, after an operational briefing by the mission organizers, the American Embassy Riga will present an overview of the Latvian and Northeastern European markets. During the course of the day, the mission will meet with representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Latvian Privatization Agency, the Latvian Small Business Administration, and other governmental organizations, as appropriate.
The meetings will be held at a conference center in Old Town Riga. Wednesday, mission members will meet with the Latvian Chamber of Commerce, the IMF, EBRD and/or Baltic-American Enterprise Fund representatives in Latvia. The mission organizers will set up individual appointments for participants with Latvian business leaders. The ideal participants are senior-level executives, yet the primary objective is to develop a healthy dialogue at the working levels of both the public and private sectors. Recruitment will be accomplished through posting of notices on appropriate sites on the Internet, by means of contact lists developed from the Tallinn Mission responses, through Showcase Europe post publicity, and post- initiated recruitment efforts.
MISSION TIMETABLE
March 30 -- Arrive in Riga, Latvia
--- Ice Breaker at the Hotel
March 31, 1998: Official program starts & participants meet with
Latvian representatives
April 1, 1998: Official program continues until lunch,
after which the individual appointments commence
CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION
Targeted mission participants are expected to be U.S. companies currently established in Europe who have an interest in learning more about increasing exports to the Latvian and Northeastern European markets. There are no restrictions nor anticipations regarding the status of the company, e.g. OTM, NTM, NTE, or SME. Fee for participation in the mission is $300 per participant. The following criteria will be evaluated in selecting participants:
Maryruth Coleman, Economic Counselor or
Anna Zisser, Commercial Specialist
American Embassy
Raina Boulevard 7
Riga LV1510, Latvia
Telephone: 371-782 0046
Fax: 371-782 0047
e-mail: zisser@mail.bkc.lv
U.S. Contact
Keith Curtis, Deputy Director/Europe
Office of International Operations
U.S. Foreign & Commercial Service
U.S. Department of Commerce
Room 3130-H
Washington, D.C. 20230
Telephone: (202) 482-1599
Fax: (202) 482-3159
e-mail: KCurtis@doc.gov