Baltic Economic Forum to be held in Riga

On 23-24 September Rīga will host the yearly Baltic Economic Forum. On the agenda of this year’s forum there are discussions among businesspeople, politicians, and experts on the experience gained by the Baltic countries when dealing with the global economic and financial crisis, on the possibilities and challenges for raising the competiveness of the region according to the European Union's Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

On 24 September, in a special roundtable discussion, the Prime Ministers of the Baltic states – Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Andrus Ansip, and Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius are invited. It is planned that the Commissioner for Regional Policy of the European Commission Johannes Hahn will open this discussion, and the Commissioner for Development of the European Commission Andris Piebalgs will take part in it.

On the first day of the Forum, the Minister of Economics of the Republic of Latvia Artis Kampars and the Governor of the Bank of Latvia Ilmārs Rimšēvičs will give their presentation. The Minister of Economy and Communication of Estonia Juhan Parts is also expected to participate. Businesspeople from the Baltic countries will share their experience on obstacles that hinder a full use of the opportunities provided by the common EU market and will exchange the ideas on what should be done to facilitate the business environment in the region.

The debate on the impact of the global crisis on the banking sector and future scenarios, organised by the Association of Latvian Commercial Banks and hosting bank directors and financial experts from the region will be held during the Forum.
The role of corporate governance in state enterprises will be discussed from different aspects, for instance, the options to privatize a company or to run it more efficiently.

The Chairman of the Nordea Banking Group and Corporate Governance Board Hans Dalborg, the Chief Economist of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Hans Christiansen, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economics Juris Pūce, the Auditor General of the State Audit Office Inguna Sudraba, and board member of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance Ian Plenderleith will take part in this discussion.

Discussions on several co-operation priorities under the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region are planned during the Forum. The experts and scientists from the Baltic countries will discuss measures for strengthening the link between education, business and research in order to ensure the economic growth of the region.

The Head of Investment Projects Department of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia Māris Ēlerts will moderate the discussion and the Head of Unit at the Directorate for Health Research, DG Research of the European Commission Pēteris Zilgalvis, and the Development Director of the Visoriai Information Technology Park Saulius Arelis, et.al. will take part.

Besides, in separate session with the participation of Latvia’s and Lithuania’s Ministers of Transport, an exchange of ideas will be held between businesspeople and experts regarding the issue of how to facilitate the Baltic Sea Region’s availability in the sector of transport.

The closing session of the Forum - on the availability of the financial resources and the role of the public and private funding - will be opened by the EC Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, and the President and the CEO of the Nordic Investment Bank Johnny Åkerholm and the Head of Baltic Banking Swedbank Håkan Berg will be among the participants.

Participation can be registered online no later than 15 September at http://www.balticeconomicforum.com. The number of participants is restricted.
The Forum will be held at Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija.

The Baltic Economic Forum is organised by the Latvian Business School and the Economists Association 2010 in co-operation with the Prime Minister’s Office of the Republic of Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the Ministry of Economics of Latvia, the Latvian Commercial Banks Association, and the Latvian Employers' Confederation.

The event is co-financed under the Management Partnership concluded between the European Commission and the Government of Latvia. The Forum sponsors are Latvenergo, Latvian Railway (LDz) and IBM Latvia.

Additional information
The Baltic Economic Forum is an international event held in one of the Baltic countries, in Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia, since 1999. The Forum has become a traditional meeting place for the officials and businesspeople from the European Union, the Russian Federation, and the CIS countries in order to discuss current topics important for the Baltic Sea Region, such as joining the European Union, the national competiveness of the Baltic countries, the development of the transport infrastructure, etc.

The European Council accepted the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in October, 2009. The main objectives of this strategy are to facilitate the environmental sustainability in the Baltic Sea Region, to enhance the region’s economic growth and welfare, to promote the access to the region and contribute to its attraction, as well as to enhance security in the region. The Strategy’s action plan has been drafted.

Press and Information Division

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