On 14 and 15 May, the president of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics, as part of an official visit to the Republic of Italy, met with Italian businessmen and representatives of universities at a round table discussion in Rome.
Opening the round table discussion, President of Latvia E. Rinkevics stressed: "Latvia has a lot to offer Italian business ventures. We focus on innovative and technology-intensive solutions to promote the development of digital solutions and green energy projects. Italy is already involved in the Rail Baltica project and has the potential to become a strategic investor in other sectors such as the bioeconomy, biomedicine or smart energy."
The President also emphasised the role of the defence industry. "Developing the defence sector and accelerating innovation is one of Latvia's top priorities. As a further pledge of our support for Ukraine, Latvia has established a Drone Coalition, in which we are ready to cooperate with Italy."
Italy has the third largest economy in the EU and the second largest production capacity in Europe. "We can benefit from Italy's vast experience in manufacturing, design and innovation. An important step in the economic cooperation between the two countries was the expansion of Marcegaglia, Europe's leading metalworking and steel manufacturing company, to Latvia last year, but we see that we can also broaden cooperation in other sectors, including technology, transport, financial services and other areas," said Ivi Anna Buce, Director of the Investment Projects Department of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), after the meeting with Italian businessmen.
Italy was represented by companies and organisations such as Marcegaglia, railway builders Rizzani de Eccher, global defence company Leonardo, the largest Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, Vita Salute San Raffaele University, which has partnered with Riga Stradins University and Riga Technical University, the University of Bergamo, the University of Salento and others. In addition to the President of Latvia, the Latvian side was represented by LIAA, Latvenergo, the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre and Riga Technical University.
During his official visit, E. Rinkēvičs met with the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and other senior officials of the Italian Republic. The President also met with his compatriots living in Italy and gave several interviews to major Italian news outlets.
In 2023, Latvia's total trade in goods and services with Italy amounted to EUR 1.35 billion, placing Italy 12th among Latvia's foreign trade partners. Total exports of goods and services to Italy amounted to EUR 387 million, which accounts for 1.5% of Latvia's total exports, while imports of goods and services were EUR 959.1 million, accounting for 3.4% of Latvia's imports.
Latvia's most important exports to Italy are wood products, machinery and electrical products, and mineral products. The main imports from Italy are food, engineering and electrical goods, textiles and design products.
Photo: Ilmārs Znotiņš, Chancellery of the President of Latvia