Liepaja has all the prerequisites to continue attracting significant foreign investments

On October 4 of this year, more than 40 employees from the Latvian overseas embassies and diplomatic missions visited Liepaja on fact-finding and experience-exchange visit, as their daily duties are aimed at promoting the Latvian business opportunities for businesses abroad – particularly in the countries, where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia has designated its economic attaches and representatives, as among other tasks, it is also in charge of promotion of bilateral and multilateral economic relations.

The Mayor of Liepaja Gunārs Ansiņš gave a brief presentation of the benefits and advantages of the city’s business environment and outlined the short and long-term development plans of the city.

The Liepaja SEZ CEO Uldis Hmieļevskis introduced the diplomats to the activities taking place in the Liepaja Special economic Zone – the tax incentives, provided by the Law, infrastructure developments, as well as achievements and development plans in the Port of Liepaja and industrial sites.

Further on the diplomats visited the new fish processing company SIA "Syfud". The Lithuanian company has invested 80 million euros to shape their company into a major European fish processing industry player. Also, the guests had a chance to visit the new United Arab Emirates protein production plant “Golden Fields Factory LV”, which started its business recently.

Mārcis Auziņš, Counsellor-Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the United Arab Emirates acknowledged that “Golden Fields Factory LV” company is an example of how a successful investment project may be implemented in a relatively short time. This may serve as yet another stimulus for promoting further investments from the United Arab Emirates to Liepaja.

In late nineties of the last century, when the Liepaja Special Economic was established, the Embassy of Latvia in Denmark put a great effort into promoting the business opportunities in Liepaja among the Danish businesses. By joint cooperation of the Liepaja SEZ Authority and the Latvian Embassy in Denmark, the number of Danish companies present in Liepaja is predominant and continues to grow as compared to that of other foreign capital businesses.

Jānis Kalva, Deputy Ambassador of Latvia to Denmark admitted: "The Danes have acquired a solid experience in Liepaja and share it with their business partners in Denmark. It helps for other Danish companies to reconsider the possibilities to relocate their manufacturing facilities to Liepaja.”

Latvia's Ambassador to Norway Mārtiņš Klīve, added that the story of Liepaja is a very good story. “That what we heard today about the development plans, about what has already been achieved motivates and helps “to sell” both Liepaja and Latvia to Norwegian investors.”