AmCham achievements in 2021

2021 has been successful thanks to continued support of our members, working group representatives, partners and speakers. We held 48+ events with 100+ speakers joined by 3500+ attendees and welcomed 15 new members. We raised the level of our advocacy with 4 active work groups and released 2 position papers. Together with our partners we co-hosted the annual American-Latvian Innovation Award and the second Riga Health Data Summit. We held numerous events together with our closest allies the U.S. Embassy in Latvia, Baltic AmChams and FICIL. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the New Year! Read more

Celebrating the season of giving

AmCham raised €2600 at its Virtual Christmas Charity event for five charities: Bezvests.lv, Pink Train Foundation, RMHC Latvija, SOS Children Villages and Latvian Foster Families this year. Over 40 members joined to celebrate the season of giving, award AmCham Members of Year, introduce new members and look back at some of the past year's highlights and enjoy virtual networking. Read more

Pan-Baltic discussion on energy: How cold will the winter be?

All three Baltic AmChams held yet another webinar on a topical theme on the current challengee faced by the EU and Baltic energy market including a panel discussion featuring experts from Baltic States representing such companies as Valmiera Glass, Augstsprieguma tikls, Fermi Energia, Klaipedos Nafta and Eastman Specialties led by Pauls Miklasevics, AmCham Vice President. Joining as a guest speaker was Thor-Sten Vertmann Member of Cabinet of EU, Commissioner for Energy.  Read more

How to stay safe, healthy and sane at work?

Our concluding webinar of 2021 in Connect with AmCham series focused on well-being of employees, their mental health and ways to communicate and lead them throughout constant change. Inspiring experts Pārsla Baško of ERDA and Māris Taube, Professor of RSU gave valuable tips for employers on how to deal with difficulties in workplace caused by the emergency situation. Read more

UAV Factory receives Latvian-American Innovation Award

UAV Factory was announced the winner of the Latvian-American Innovation Award 2021 for their long-endurance aircraft “Penguin C Mk2 VTOL” designed for demanding operations to support missions in more restrictive environments. Vigo Health was announced the runner-up for their remote rehabilitation software "Vigo". The winner received 10,000 Euro and the runner-up 5,000 Euro and a custom made award. Read more

World Latvian Economics and Innovations Forum

This year's World Latvian Economics and Innovations Forum focused on the economic development of the capital of Latvia - Riga - and its prospects of growth. The program was divided into three thematic blocks devoted to entrepreneurship, talent attraction and real estate development. It featured numerous speakers including AmCham President John Tully and AmCham members Maksims Jegorovs of Accenture Baltics and Zane Culkstena of ERDA. To revisit the WLEIF! Read more

Double taxation on dividends discussed by members

On December 16, members launched a new work group on double taxation on dividends. The aim of this work group is to come up with potential proposal on amendments to the legislation to balance tax burden for foreign investors to make Latvia more attractive for both international and the U.S. investments. If you would like to get involved, please contact us at amcham@amcham.lv. Read more

Welcome IQVIA to AmCham

IQVIA, a world leader in using data, technology and advanced analytics, has joined the Chamber as a Corporate member. IQVIA enables a more modern and effective healthcare system by creating breakthrough solutions that transform business and patient outcomes. We warmly welcome IQVIA to AmCham. Read more

Children's Hospital Foundation joins membership

The Children's Hospital Foundation, an organization taking care of the children's health through raising help from general public, has recently joined the Chamber as a Non-Profit member. They closely collaborate with the Children's Hospital on day-to-day basis and make their contribution in order to assure that the assistance available to children at the Hospital is professional and delivered in a high quality. A warm welcome to our community! Read more

Eversheds Sutherland releases "Updates in a Heartbeat"

Eversheds Sutherland global Health and Life Science team presents the first edition of "Updates in a heartbeat", their quarterly newsletter which provides a compilation of key legal developments from the last months including medical devices, clinical trials and reimbursement systems, and is full of newsworthy items from their team from around the globe.  Read more

Ellex named the best Baltic Law Firm of the Year 2021

On December 1, Ellex was recognized as the Baltic Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer European Awards online ceremony. They are honored to be recognized among the leading European law firms and also as the Baltic Law Firm of the Year 2021, keeping a position as the best law firm of the region. Read more

Printify and SEB Global Services receive Riga Thaler Awards

For the first time, Riga’s best companies have been honored at the Rīgas dālderis ’21 (Riga Thaler ’21) event. Two of our members are among the best and for two awards out of four. Printify received the Riga Startup of the Year award and Riga Entrepreneur of the Year went to SEB Global Services Riga. Read more

PwC’s invites to share views for annual Baltic CEO survey

Our member PwC would like to invite you to participate in their Annual Baltic CEO Survey and share your views on business opportunities and threats, growth prospects, labor availability and other topical business issues. PwC looks forward to hearing from you by December 31, 2021.  Read more

Co-Creating Impact Summit 2021

The Co-Creating Impact Summit, organized by Novartis, gathered experts inside and outside of Novartis to continue the company's work of improving its impact on the society and the planet. The summit brouhgt together thought-leaders and experts from academia, institutions, business, and the financial markets to discuss the expanding spectrum of impact challenges and opportunities. Read more

Promoting principles of transparency

On November 30, 2021 Delna presented its study on “The Publication of Anti-Corruption Data in Businesses in Latvia in 2021” which evaluated how companies have implemented anti-corruption programs. In addition, Delna and CSR Latvia invite companies to join the initiative “Zero Tolerance Against Corruption” and confirm their willingness to implement and promote the principles of transparency. Read more

Citadele donates €25 000 to 3 charities in the Baltics

Citadele believes that meaningful gifts should be shared throughout the year by offering clients to donate through the bank's X REWARDS loyalty program. Together with partners and clients the bank has helped brighten up this holiday season for low-income families and people in need by donating €25 000 to Labdaribaslapa.lv, MaistoBankas and Eesti Toidupank. Read more

Update on FICIL activities

FICIL, one of AmCham's closest advocacy partners, has prepared a short overview on the latest work group activities related to labor, green economy, digitalization as well as investment protection & court efficiency issues. You are invited to take part in one of its many working groups. The following WGs have scheduled meetings in 2022: digitalization as well as transport and infrastructure. Sign up for FICIL work groups here! Read more