Ministry of Economics of Republic of Latvia
The Ministry of Economics is the leading state administrative institution in the field of economic policy formation in Latvia. The aim of the Ministry of Economics is to reach the competitiveness of the national economy at European level. Therefore the Ministry promotes sustainable development of structurally and regionally balanced national economy. The Ministry is working closely with non-governmental organizations representing the entrepreneurs and other social partners.
The Ministry of Economics represents the economic interests of Latvia in the European Union and participates in all stages of decision making. The Ministry of Economics represents the opinion of Latvia at the EU Competitiveness Council and Transport, Telecomunications and Energy Council. Also the function of the Ministry is to introduce and supervise the programs and projects of EU Structural Funds and other foreign financial means.
In 2010, the main priorities of the economic policy are as follows: support to exports and microenterprises, as well as promotion of energy independence. This will be mainly achieved by implementing the medium-term economic recovery plan approved by the government in November 2009, by directing the EU Structural Funds financing towards the support for exports and by eliminating the bureaucratic obstacles for entrepreneurship.
Taking into account both, the analysis of economy sectors by the Ministry of Economics and the surveys of the Bank of Latvia, several state support priority areas have been determined, which are as follows:
- competitive enterprises with high growth and export potential;
- manufacturing industry sectors with significant contribution in the value added and export growth, as well as high growth and export potential in the future;
- export-oriented services sectors.
The main state support directions for the support of these priority areas are tax incentives, the EU Structural Funds and financial support instruments, education and science, as well as, in certain sectors, additionally identified specific measures, the implementation of which is necessary for fostering competitiveness.
