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To address the topics highly relevant to the Norwegian business community in Riga and to learn more about outlook and concrete initatives to attract new talent and investments to Riga, NCCL members this week visited the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA) and and engaged in discussion with its Managing Director Fredis Bikovs. While Fredis Bikovs outlined the priorities and planned activities by RITA, Antra Zālīte, Chairperson of Visma Enterprise and Board member at NCCL, who also serves on the recently-established Riga Investors Advisory Council, shared her outlook on the major challenges, followed by a discussion among NCCL members operating in the IT, global service centre industry, real estate, education, and banking. As pointed out by F. Bikovs in his presentation, access to qualified talent is cited as far more important criteria for new investors than many other aspects such as location, taxes etc. To address this topic, NCCL members spoke of the need for improved education, better branding for the city of Riga, the need for higher inclusion and proactive engagement of Latvian diaspora, foreign students and non-Latvian spouses, as well as support for relocation. In 2023, the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency has introduced several innovations in facilitating attraction of talent and new investors to the capital of Latvia, including the launch of the international talent attraction platform "Work in Riga" and the "Workcation programme", inviting companies to spend a paid "working vacation" in Riga. |