A new Executive Board of Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL) has been elected in organization’s annual general meeting which took place on February 20. For the first time to the FICIL Executive Board was elected Gunta Jēkabsone, Vice President of Circle K, Ingrīda Kariņa-Bērziņa, Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce, and Māris Gruzniņš, Board Member at CEMEX. Baiba Zūzena, Chairperson of the Board at “All Media Baltics”, was re-elected to the Board.
Four board members will continue their work in the Board – Alf Erik Lundgrenn, Chairman of the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia, Ints Krasts, member of the Board at SEB Bank, Julia Sundberg, member of the Board at Fortum, as well as Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska, Chairperson of the Board and Leading partner at PwC Latvia.
The FICIL Executive Board is elected for two years and its main responsibility is to represent the interests of more than 50 corporate and associate members in Latvia. The first Executive Board meeting will be held on March 7, which will also include preparations for the annual High Council meeting to be held on June 6 and 7.
Marta Jaksona, FICIL Executive Director: “This year we will lead active work representing the interests of FICIL members – the biggest foreign investors in Latvia. We will continue a constructive and open dialogue with policy makers to improve the investment climate in Latvia. At the top of my agenda still is the concern of foreign investors about the high level of corruption and the economic crimes in Latvia; this is an area where we expect efficient, structured and timely actions from law enforcement agencies. In parallel, we will work on specific suggestions to improve Latvia’s attractiveness for existing and potential investors, for example, to facilitate the attraction of foreign labour force, modernise and digitalise public services, and continue reforms in higher education.”