Investment in latvia

Finance for very small businesses: ALTUM

• Thanks to a guarantee agreement with the European Investment Fund, Latvia’s state-owned development institution ALTUM is providing €15 million in loans to 600 microbusinesses in Latvia between 2018 - 2021. The EIF agreement was signed under the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation and is backed by the Juncker Plan. Micro-entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from loans at a reduced interest rate with lower collateral requirements. ALTUM will primarily target start-ups and small businesses, including young people with little business experience.

Supporting innovation: HANSAMATRIX

• Latvian tech start-up HansaMatrix has received €10 million in financing to expand its production capacity and boost its research and development activities. HansaMatrix develops electronic systems and services that are used in a wide range of areas such as imaging, medical equipment and manufacturing. HansaMatrix was the first private company in Latvia to receive direct financing from the EIB under the Juncker Plan.

Skilled and Motivated Workforce

• The Latvian labour force is multi-lingual and relatively well educated, ready to take on new challenges and is highly motivated. Countries with better-trained or better-motivated workforces than Latvia are few and far between. Latvia’s workforce is ranked in the top five in the world in terms of university students per capita. Latvians take pride in having strong work ethics being an integral part of Northern European culture, while at the same time having and extensive experience and knowledge of doing business with Russia.
• Higher education: Latvian labour force is well educated, with one of the highest rates of university attendance in the world. In 2018/2019 there were 80 355 students attaining 54 higher education institutions, 2 of which are branches of foreign universities. At the same time in 46 professional education institutions around Latvia were 27 161 students.

• The four largest universities – Riga Technical University, University of Latvia, Riga Stradins University and Latvia University of Agriculture enroll more than half of the students of Latvia. Latvia’s research institutes specialize in fields as diverse as radio astronomy, life sciences, physics, logistics and telecommunications.
• Technical and vocational skills: Main university for technical sciences is Riga Technical University. In Latvia there are more than 12 626 students studying in higher education programs for engineering, electronics, metalworking, etc. and also in vocational education programs.
• Cultural and language skills: Latvia’s history has prepared its workforce with knowledge of business and cultural norms that enable partnership particularly with Russia and other CIS partners, as well as with western European countries. Over 85% of Latvians speak Russian and 70% of people under age 40 speak English. German and Scandinavian languages are also widely spoken.
• Training incentives: Latvia’s government recognizes the importance of training programs for improving the skills of the workforce, and thus offers various incentives for employers to provide training to potential hires and current employees.

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