OREANDA-NEWS. On 1 October 2009, the Bank of Latvia is going to host its annual economics conference Return to Sustainable Economic Growth and Stability in Latvia, reported the press-centre of Bank of Latvia.

Following a boisterous boost triggered by the real estate sector and domestic demand, Latvia's economy is now suffering from a severe downturn. Being an extremely open economy, Latvia is in need for a stable macroeconomic environment and growing exports; the restoration and promotion of stability and growth is not an easy task to address in the current situation of global economic crisis. The versatility of a number of crucial factors to the challenge will be in the focus of academics, business professionals, as well as financial sector and mass media representatives brought together for discussions.

At the opening of the conference, Ilmars Rimsevics, Bank of Latvia Governor, and Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, will make presentations on how Latvia can escape from the crisis. Dr. Anders Aslund is a leading researcher in East European economics, professor at Georgetown University, and author of many books.

As previously, two discussion panels featuring international and domestic market participants' stances will be held.

Panel Discussion I, Return to Sustainable Economic Development, will include the European Commission's assessment of the current macroeconomic situation and prospects in Latvia, European Investment Bank's analysis of investment and energy efficiency as a precondition for a return to sustainable development, and Bank of Latvia's evaluation of the decisive role a sustainable budget planning has for the euro introduction.

Panel Discussion II, Promotion of Entrepreneurship: a Precondition for Economic Recovery, will present the employers' assessment and foreign investors' perception of opportunities and challenges in overcoming the crisis as well as the banking sector's view on the availability of funding.

The conference proceedings will be available on the Bank of Latvia website.

Attendance will be by invitation only. The conference venue is the Radisson SAS Daugava Hotel. You can follow the conference online.