The AmCham Board held its semi-annual retreat to discuss the strategic direction for the coming year. Among key priority areas are the enhancement of transatlantic trade and investment through further development of "Gateway to the USA" program; attracting international talent and promoting Latvia as a career destination, and continuing work to improve the business and investment climate with a focus on the new Whistleblowers' Law introduction and monitoring the progress of the Latvian financial sector.

Look out for the survey coming your way in the next weeks. Our Labor Force Working group has developed a survey for members to gather your experience of attracting employees, both domestic and international. At the last meeting, the Working group reviewed survey questions and engaged in a discussion with the representative of the Ministry of Economics on labor market trends.

Our first business luncheon of this year featured Mārtiņš Kazaks, Member of the Council of the Bank of Latvia who gave a short overview of macroeconomic conditions and growth prospects for Latvia projecting GDP growth at 3.6% this year.

The results of the FICIL Sentiment Index 2018 study suggest that the investment attractiveness of Latvia, according to the viewpoints of foreign investors, has remained the same as compared to the situation one year ago scoring 2,5 points out of 5. Main concerns identified in the business environment include corruption in the public sector, availability and quality of labor, efficiency of the public sector.

On December 14 the winners of the Human Development Award 2018 were announced: entrepreneur Marika Ģederte, teacher Anna Kupre, Children's Hospital Foundation and Kraslava Mommy's Club. The Award is hosted by AmCham, U.S. Embassy in Latvia and the Civic Alliance with the aim to honor inspirational people, businesses and organizations that have significantly contributed to human development. The award promotes initiatives that reduce inequality and foster social responsibility, education, health and well-being of the Latvian people.