Latvian investors target manufacturers for growth

FOREIGN investors will be targeting West Midlands manufacturers at a major trade event in Birmingham today.

A high profile delegation from Latvia will be scouring stands at the Subcon 2011 event at the National Exhibition Centre looking for opportunities to forge closer relations between their country and the region.

The move stems from a visit to the West Midlands by the Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis earlier this year.

The rapidly emerging Baltic state is looking to attract regional firms wishing to work with its companies, which include Dambis, Vikan Marketing, Nook Serviss, RD Alfa and Volburg.

The Manufacturing Advisory Service-West Midlands (MAS-WM) is acting as a trade conduit and will help regional firms with introductions. The link-up will explore the mutual benefits of working together through supply chain development, collaborative R&D and using Latvia as a potential gateway to the CIS block of countries.

Guntis Rubins, head of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) in the UK, said: “Trade between the UK and Latvia in 2010 almost doubled and we now have in excess of 1,000 firms working together on projects and investing in each other’s countries.

“It’s not difficult to see why, as we both share similar growth sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, medical, ICT and low carbon automotive.”

Rachel Eade, project manager at MAS-WM, said: “Manufacturing is truly global now and we need to ensure we give our local firms the opportunity to explore new relationships with like-minded international businesses like those operating in Latvia.”

She said this could be in terms of supply chain development and joint ventures, but importantly in opening up new markets where UK engineering and innovation is very much in demand.

“Latvia also boasts a lot of electronic expertise and this could well prove a viable alternative for companies who have been hit hard by the shortage of components caused by the tsunami in Japan and want to source closer to home,” she said.