90 members and guests enjoyed the new production of THE QUEEN OF SPADES by Pyotr Tchaikovsky along with a kick-off reception at the Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, an insightful lecture about the opera and its composer by CEO of GroGlass, Sasha Kelberg and a small reception at the Red Hall of the opera house during the first intermission.

AmCham members met the new LIAA Director to hear his priorities and discuss topic of increasing trade with the U.S. Priority sectors for investment attraction to Latvia include: GBS, Smart Materials, Life Sciences, Smart City development. On the topic of attracting foreign talent, AmCham members were pleased to learn that LIAA is directing its resources in producing a new relocation guide to help attract foreign and remigrant talent.

On February 7, Santa Purgaile, Head of FCMC addressed AmCham members on recent developments in the financial sector. Substantial work has been done to restore the reputation of the Latvian financial sector, however, much remains to be done to support the sector, including developing capital markets and introducing new technologies. Among key FCMC tasks is communication, both international and local, to minimize negative impact on investors willing to do business in Latvia.

The AmCham Healthcare work group members gathered for the first meeting of the year to continue work to improve the healthcare system. The working group discussed its current projects: workshop to improve the Oncology data registry, planning of the data-driven healthcare conference in cooperation with MoH and NHS, and a proposal to support a project on value-based healthcare by professor Civjāne from the University of Latvia.