The New ventspils industrial park presented during a regional business forum

Kurzeme Business forum

The new Ventspils Industrial park of national importance was for the first time presented during the Kurzeme Business forum held in Ventspils on May 17. Ventspils Industrial park project has been submitted for evaluation, and municipality hopes it gets approved.

Chairman of Ventspils City Council Janis Vitolins in his speech said that it is a very challenging time, especially for ports, when, in view of the geopolitical situation, freight turnover has declined dramatically, so it is necessary to look for new business. Ventspils has been developing manufacturing industry for more than 20 years. “We are developing modern industry since the oil pipeline was closed in 2002 and cargo turnover in Ventspils port fell by half – from 30 to 15 million tons – in a year. We have achieved good results. In terms of production volume, we are third behind Riga and Liepaja, but we are ahead of Daugavpils, Jelgava, Valmiera. In terms of efficiency, we are the best when per capita is calculated, and 90% of industrial production is being exported. This shows that the production produced by our industrial companies is very competitive," said the Mayor.

Minister of Economy of the Republic of Latvia Ms. Ilze Indriksone joined the forum and in her opening speech referred to the data from a business survey, which shows that it is very important not to disrupt entrepreneurs from working, which means less bureaucracy, fewer barriers, more trust and, at the same time, more responsibility. The Minister confirmed that the Ministry of Economy, together with the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and Altum financial instruments, is prepared to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary support, as well as is committed to working on cutting red tape so that, for example, the tax system is more understandable and business people can pay taxes more quickly and easily.

The first part of the forum consisted of inspiration stories presented by several entrepreneurs, two of which were Ventspils companies working in IT – Azeron that produces gaming keypads Azeron and  TestDevLab that offers software testing and quality assurance services.

The event was organized by Ventspils Municipality in cooperation with Kurzeme Planning Region, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Green and Smart Technology Cluster under the “Business Support Measures in Kurzeme Planning Region” project.

Photograph: archive of Ventspils Chronicle