Latvian Prime Minister courts West Midland businesses for growth

COMPANIES in the West Midlands operating in high growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing and green technology have been courted by the Prime Minister of Latvia.

Valdis Dombrovskis said his country offered major investment opportunities for West Midland exporters and the politician saw at first hand what the region had to offer when he attended a trade event at the University of Warwick’s Digital Lab.

The event, organised by the Midlands World Trade Forum (MWTF), showcased some of the technologies in demand not just in Latvia, but in other Baltic States and the emerging economies of the region.

Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, Mr Dombrovskis said the visit had been very useful and had shown him something of the potential offered by the West Midlands.

“The main purpose of my visit has been investment and I have been very impressed with what I have seen. My country can offer major investment opportunities to West Midlands’ exporters,” he said.

With low labour costs, a skilled workforce, enterprise zone and competitive tax rates, it is easy to see why investors should seriously consider Latvia as a country ripe for growth – not that it isn’t already growing. The country is targeting growth of between 3.3-3.5% this year, a figure many European economies would envy.

Mr Dombrovskis, right, is also well qualified to speak on the subject. Prior to becoming his country’s Minister of Finance and one of its MEPs, he was chief economist of The Bank of Latvia.

“The structure of our economy is changing. We intend to grow our industrial base and grow our exports,” said Mr Dombrovskis.

“We are looking at growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing and green technology, which appears well represented in the West Midlands.

“We are also exploring opportunities in biotech, environmental technology, waste management, chemical industries, machining and engineering, ICT and construction.”

The latter is again significant as Latvia is still a developing country. Its road and rail network are still being developed and it is home to Europe’s fastest growing airport – Riga.

Its open-door policy has yielded strong results. It has seen the country attract more than £6.67bn (€8bn) in director foreign investment. Its factories already supply many firms in Europe, including familiar names such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

The MWTF said it was delighted with how well the visit, which was organised in partnership with the Latvian Embassy and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, had gone.

Peter Mathews, of the MWTF, said: “It is all too rare that we are able to attract a foreign Prime Minister to this area and it was great to be able to show Mr Dombrovskis a flavour of what the West Midlands has to offer.”

His colleague and MWTF chairman Deb Leary added: “I believe that he (the Prime Minister) was impressed by what he saw and now it is up to businesses here in the West Midlands to rise to the challenge and grasp the export opportunities that are clearly on offer.”

At the end of Q3 2009, the UK was Latvia’s 8th largest export partner and the 20th largest import partner.

The largest groups of commodities imported from the UK to Latvia were machinery and mechanical appliances and electrical equipment (20% of the total UK export to Latvia) followed by chemicals and allied industries (16%), textiles and textiles articles (15%) and food industry products (8%).