Rauls Velins joins the AmCham Board

Rauls Velins, General Manager of Roche Latvija has been elected to the AmCham Board of Directors by the AmCham Nominating Committee. He is replacing Dita Erna Sile who stepped down from her position on April 26. Rauls assumes the Board position immediately and will serve the remaining term of Dita until March 2024.

On May 16, Investment work group members gathered for another meeting to discuss ways to improve the investment environment and promote Latvia as an FDI destination. The group decided to promote the impact of FDI on the economy by sharing examples and best practices from existing investors in Latvia as well as identifying best examples from our neighboring European countries.
 

New director for Riga Business School

After the selection of candidates by the nomination committee and the approval of the RTU rector, on June 26 of this year, Claudio Rivera will become the director of Riga Business School. In the role of director, Claudio Rivera will replace the long-time director of Riga Business School, Jānis Grēviņš.

The importance of AmCham values and future development

We recently marked our 30th Anniversary and continue to ask our members about the reasons they are in AmCham and what is the future of our organization. Kerli Vares, AmCham Board Member and Head of Luminor in Latvia emphasizes that AmCham will remain as one of the most successful forums to drive the growth and development of this region in the following 30 years as well. 

Delna publishes guidelines for handling alarm reports

Delna has recently developed "Guidelines for handling whistleblower reports", which explains what responsible persons in institutions, companies and organizations should consider when reviewing received whistleblower reports. The guidelines are available HERE (in Latvian).

Join Pink Train May Marathon

After a 3-year break, the Pink Train Foundation is delighted to announce the Pink Train May Marathon and invite members to take part and help them to raise funds for a good cause - cover the costs of counseling and physiotherapy for breast cancer patients. During the month of May run, walk, cycle, ride, rollerblade or use whatever other means to "do" 42 km. Donations can be made via their fund-raising link or directly to their bank or PayPal accounts.

On April 28, Nils Melngailis, Chairman of the Supervisory Council of Luminor Bank and non-Executive Director at Printful addressed AmCham members on recent challenges the banking industry is currently facing, including aggressive interest rate hikes, increasing competition, enhanced regulation, and slow economic growth. He emphasized that European banks, including ones represented in the Baltic region, are in much better shape than the ones in the U.S. 

Looking back and starting a new chapter

In the anniversary month of AmCham we talked to our members about the reasons they are in AmCham and what is the future of our organization. Watch the video!

At the Healthcare work group meeting on April 25 Edgars Labsvirs of Medtronic and Alise Krumina of Roche were elected the Co-Chairs of the group. The work group members expressed gratitude to Dita Erna Sile who stepped down after driving the group's activities over the last two years. The work group focuses on completing several projects, mainly in the field of value-based healthcare, healthcare financing, digital health, secondary health data as well as works closely with the government in implementing the group's agenda.

Between geopolitics and effective governance in Latvia

On April 24, FICIL presented the foreign investors’ assessment of the business environment in Latvia, taking a closer look at the development of public sector reform, workforce availability, fair competition, combatting shadow economy as well as other key topics of concern.  Dr. Arnis Sauka outlined the main results of FICIL Sentiment Index research and emphasized that most investors see the least progress in solving key issues such as - demography, access to labor, reducing uncertainty and the healthcare system. Revisit the discussion!