Political parties' election programs should also address exports and productivity - LCCI and LDDK

• Published date: 20 July 2022
• Publication title: LETA

RIGA, July 20 (LETA) - The Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Employers' Confederation of Latvia (LDDK) believe that political parties' election programs should also address increasing exports and productivity, as the LCCI told LETA.

During an online press conference on Wednesday, the two organizations presented their recommendations for political parties' economic programs, so that the next government could create prerequisites for Latvia to become a more attractive growth platform for knowledgeable and enterprising people, as well as for productive exporters.

The recommendations set a strategic goal of increasing exports to at least 70 percent of gross domestic product by 2026, while increasing productivity should contribute to 4 percent increase in GDP per employee annually.

The recommendations cover seven areas addressing 26 objectives in various fields important for business and economic growth. For each objective, there is an achievable and measurable result.

The organizations believe that in energy, it is necessary to ensure security and competitiveness of energy resource prices, as well as to promote production of renewable energy resources and development of liquefied natural gas infrastructure.

Concerning taxes, the priorities set by the LDDK and LTRK include competitiveness of labor taxes, easy-to-administer taxes for small companies, and a motivating tax policy for municipalities. It is also necessary to eliminate causes stimulating the shadow economy, so that shadow economy does not exceed 19 percent of GDP.

In order to promote innovation, it is necessary to develop an effective innovation system, including instruments promoting cooperation between science and companies. Development of human capital requires changes in education, motivating students to learn natural science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), providing work environment-based learning in vocational education and introducing the...