On 13 September of this year, Riga will host Latvia's FinTech forum bringing together representatives of FinTech companies, industry experts and officials from Latvia and other European countries. Company managers will share stories of their journey in the financial innovation world and discuss with experts the directions of FinTech growth and incentives needed for the development of the industry in Latvia.
The forum is organised by the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA). Santa Purgaile, Chairwoman of the FCMC, and Ņikita Kazakevičs, Director of the LIAA Innovation and Technology Department, will open the forum.
"Innovation drives the economic development and welfare of society. For an innovative financial sector to form and for FinTech companies to thrive in Latvia, the FCMC has created several support mechanisms: the Innovation Hub, the Regulatory Sandbox and a website dedicated to the topic of FinTech. Additionally, this autumn, the industry representatives will be brought together in the FinTech forum for the first time to discuss the sectoral growth directions, cooperation and support opportunities," Santa Purgaile, Chairwoman of the FCMC, pointed out.
Ilze Indriksone, Minister of Economics, emphasized: "There are currently 118 active financial start-ups in Latvia; they account for approximately a third of all active Latvia's start-ups, and their total turnover exceeds 500 million euro. Financial technologies are easily scalable; therefore, the solutions developed in Latvia are in demand across the world. A swift development of start-ups is a way to increase the added value of the Latvian economy; thus, we will keep supporting the development of this sector with state programmes."
Several companies will share their experience in the forum, and the participants of discussions will debate a wide range of issues relevant to the sector: the progress achieved and the work to be done in FinTech in Latvia, the role of the state, regulatory framework and fund raising in the FinTech development, innovative technology in the financial sector and other relevant topics.
The forum will include four panel discussions:
- FinTech development trends and growth perspectives;
- Capital availability for FinTech companies and start-ups;
- FinTech companies and the regulatory framework;
- Innovative technologies and talent attraction.
The forum will provide a networking opportunity, it will take place on the premises of Digital Art House (Riga, Skolas iela 2) and will be available as a live broadcast.
The programme of the forum and the registration are available here: fintechforum2022.com.
The venue of the forum will offer an opportunity to meet and consult the FCMC financial innovation experts and experts representing the LIAA Start-up Support Division and the Investment Promotion Division.
One of the FCMC's strategic directions involves providing support to FinTech and contributing to the financial system innovations. In cooperation with other public institutions, the FCMC aims to create a FinTech-friendly environment that would foster innovative financial services in Latvia and attract new companies to provide these services.
Meanwhile, one of the LIAA's priorities involves providing support to start-ups and scalable, innovative solutions in FinTech companies. The LIAA's task is to promote international cooperation and develop the investment environment.