OREANDA-NEWS. August 06, 2013. Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, and Shimon Peres, President of Israel, agreed on further work to develop economic relations and support exchange visits of entrepreneurs of both countries. The officials also agreed on the necessity to strengthen cooperation in the areas of education, science and tourism.

Both officials acknowledged the fact that the trade volume of Latvia and Israel keep growing, however, the whole potential remains unexploited. Valdis Dombrovskis emphasised that a fundamental legal basis has been ensured for bilateral cooperation – both countries have concluded 15 cooperation agreements, including investment protection agreement, thus forming a stable basis for extended economic cooperation.

During the meeting the Latvian Prime Minister and the President of Israel exchanged their views regarding the reasons and solutions of the economic crisis in the European Union. Valdis Dombrovskis expressed his conviction that the consequences of the EU crisis are being gradually overcome, but an essential challenge is the competitiveness crisis of the EU. The Prime Minister noted that without more enhanced competitiveness it would be impossible to regain stable and sustainable growth, therefore a number of reforms are needed in order to use the opportunities open in the single European market in a more efficient way, to reduce administrative burdens for businesses, exploit the potential of the digital market and liberalise the internal labour market.

The officials also discussed the situation in the Middle East region, including resumption of peace negotiations. Peres expressed his gratitude to Latvia for its support in the process of peace negotiation resumption both at the level of bilateral relation and at the EU level

Valdis Dombrovskis and Shimon Peres also addressed the challenges faced in the energy sector. The Latvian Prime Minister noted that though Latvia can boast its second rank regarding the proportion of renewable energy in its total energy consumption and its first rank as a country with the lowest CO2 emissions per capita, currently it is apparent that this energy is related to higher costs and subsidies leading to increased costs for the production sector and lower competitiveness of the country. Therefore it is necessary to seek balanced solutions by also investing into enhanced energy efficiency. The Head of the Latvian Government emphasised that by investing into enhanced energy efficiency Europe could gain certain competitive advantages in comparison with the United States and other regions.

Shimon Peres acknowledged the dialogue of the Latvian Government with the Jewish community regarding the restitution of Jewish property and expressed his conviction that that a balanced solution would be found.

At the end of the meeting, Valdis Dombrovskis expressed his gratitude to Israel for its support to the accession process of Latvia to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and noted that involvement in this organisation and introduction of the European single currency in Latvia would enhance Latvia’s competitiveness in attracting foreign investments and ensure new opportunities for trade, production and exports. The Prime Minister also urged entrepreneurs of Israel to use these opportunities.