Ventspils - 2nd best among micro-cities

We have received good news – foreign direct investment (fDi) attraction strategy of Ventspils city has been recognised as the second best in the fDi Intelligence’s European Cities and Regions of the Future ranking in the category “fDi's Micro European Cities of the Future 2023”. Ireland's third-largest city, Limerick, ranked first in this category.

The group of micro-cities includes cities with a population of less than 100 thousand.

This year a total of 549 urban and regional applications were evaluated in five sub-categories: “Economic potential”, “Human resources and lifestyle”, “profitability”, “Connectivity” and “Business-friendliness”. 89 applications were submitted under the FDI Strategy.

“Ventspils is a unique example of Latvia with an impressive jump in economic potential and industrial growth over the last twenty years. Output of manufacturing industries has increased 50 times. We have achieved this through a targeted industrialization program launched in 2002,” says Jānis Vītoliņš, chairman of Ventspils City Council.

In 2022, Ventspils launched a new industrialization program with territory assigned for this purpose. In the next 20 years, Ventspils aims to become a European hub where green and digital technologies are created and produced. Ventspils will continue its investment promotion strategy by developing an adapted industrial infrastructure.