Here, the necessary expertise is gathered including industry experts with knowledge of individual companies as well as investment advisers that offer support when it comes to finding the best solution for an establishment.
The investment agency has offices in Sweden as well as in several other EU countries. In addition, there are offices established in Russia and Japan.
- The most common question I get from Swedish companies is that they are looking for a specific kind of business, for example, someone who can punch a particular kind of metal part, or if there is anyone who sells canvas sheets. My job is then to develop a list of such companies and send it to the company, says Austra Kreslina, head of the representative office in Stockholm.
In other words, it is primarily about conveying contacts. However, if the Swedish company is interested in making an investment in Latvia, there are skilled people available at the headquarter in Riga. They will support the company in every possible way, from finding suitable properties to deal with legal questions.
A task that Austra Kreslina often organizes is so-called match-making, a sort of "market place" where Swedish and Latvian companies meet to see if there are grounds for deepened cooperation.
- There is usually a maximum of ten companies from each country, where the company representatives are introduced to one another. This is an effective way to create business contacts, says Austra Kreslina.
There are already more than 600 companies with Swedish capital in Latvia, but new companies are constantly established and the agency arranges individual visits to see the opportunities in place. The company will then visit carefully selected potential business partners.
The program usually includes different pieces of information, for example, conditions, market and business climate. For free. This information means that all registered companies in Latvia - both domestic and foreign - are entitled to government support programs consisting of EU support.
- The support program is administered by the investment agency including, for example, money to offer the staff supplementary training. In other words, it is possible to bring home staff from Latvia to Sweden for training without spending a large amount of money. Funding for development of new products and new technologies are also available, says Austra Kreslina.
-There are many good arguments for choosing Latvia – if a company has lower volumes of assets, the geographical proximity across the Baltic Sea is a persuasive argument compared to countries in the Far East. There are several regular routes and it is possible to deliver overnight. Corporate taxes are 15 percent and labor costs are very competitive.
Find out more - contact the Latvian Investment agency in Sweden!