The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) invites innovative and technologically advanced companies, including those from the ICT, energy, logistics and defence sectors, as well as manufacturing and production companies from various industries, to apply for participation in the planned working visit of the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and the Minister of Economics, Viktors Valainis, to the USA, which will take place on 17–26 September this year.
The visit programme is planned in four parts in different US cities: San Francisco and the neighbouring Silicon Valley are the world’s technology hub, Denver has a growing technology and energy sector, Houston is the energy capital, and San Diego has a large concentration of defence-related companies.
The agenda for Latvian entrepreneurs will be developed in cooperation with the President’s Office, the Ministry of Economics, the Embassy of Latvia in the USA and the LIAA Representative Office in the USA.
The main objectives of the visit
- To establish contacts with investors, potential clients and US partners;
- To develop new cooperation opportunities and Latvian-US joint projects;
- To explore the market opportunities in the US and the economic trends in the region.
Benefits of the visit
- Meetings with representatives of US companies;
- Meetings with venture capital investment funds;
- Making business contacts at networking events;
- Contacts with representatives of government institutions and trade promotion organisations;
- Contacts with members of the Latvian delegation.
After the application for the visit of public officials, LIAA will contact the participants of the event to discuss the detailed programme of the visit, which is currently under development. Meetings with potential investors and cooperation partners will be arranged to the extent possible.
Provisional programme
Part I – energy and logistics companies orientated
- Tuesday–Wednesday, 17–18 September (Houston, Texas)
(Participation of the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Attendance of the Gastech Energy Conference;
- Meetings with companies of the participants’ interest;
- Business networking event in Houston.
Part II – technology and non-technology orientated
- Wednesday, 18 September (Stanford, California)
(Participation of the President and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Visit to Stanford University;
- Event in partnership with TechChill: an opportunity for Latvian tech companies to network with Silicon Valley investment funds.
- Thursday, 19 September (San Francisco, California)
(Participation of the President, the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Meeting with US companies and investors: Google, Plug and Play Tech Center and other companies of the participants’ interest;
- Reception in San Francisco.
- Friday, 20 September (San Francisco, California)
(Participation of the President, the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Meeting with US companies and investors: Apollo.io, Berkeley Skydeck VC and other companies of the participants’ interest;
- Networking with the Latvian diaspora in California.
- Saturday, 21 September and Sunday, 22 September
- Free time and flight to Denver
Part III – technology, manufacturing, production and other industry orientated
- Monday, 23 September (Denver, Colorado)
(Participation of the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Visit and exchange of experience with SAF Tehnika USA;
- Business networking event in cooperation with the Latvian American Chamber of Commerce.
- Tuesday, 24 September (Denver, Colorado)
(Participation of the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Meeting with US companies and investors: Techstars, Founders Institute and other companies of the participants’ interest.
Part IV – defence industry orientated
- Wednesday, 25 September (San Diego, California)
(Participation of the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Visits to American defence companies if the US company accepts the participation of the specific company;
- Business networking event.
- Thursday, 26 September (San Diego, California)
(Participation of the Minister of Economics and a delegation of entrepreneurs)- Semiconductor industry company visits if the US company accepts the participation of the specific company.
Companies must consider the travel expenses of their representatives:
- Participation fee: LIAA invoice for a participation fee of 5 man-hours (EUR 149.40 + VAT);
- Travel (transport) expenses;
- Accommodation (hotel) expenses.
Participation in visits abroad of high-ranking public officials is organised by LIAA within the framework of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Innovative Business Development Programme co-financed by the European Union with the support of the European Regional Development Fund and state funding. A company can participate by paying a fee or receiving support. To receive support, a company must meet the eligibility criteria. To check whether a company qualifies for support, use the Self-Check Calculator. Up to 60% of the total eligible expenses can be recovered with the support.
After the event, entrepreneurs who qualify for support according to the quality criteria will be able to submit a Payment Request for support via the Business.gov.lv platform.
More information on the support programme for participation in the visit of high-ranking public officials abroad.