Stimulating Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas of Latvia

Rural area of Latvia Covers 98% of the territory of Latvia 31% of the population lives in the rural area Population density – 12 people per square kilometre

Rural politics today The responsibility for the development of rural area is shared between ministries The main document is Rural Development Programme (adopted in 1998) Specially Supportable Regions Programme Rural Development Project (World Bank) Rural Partnership Programme SMEs development program Single Programming Document

Financial Resources for the Development of Rural Area Governmental support Direct payments Rural development plan EU Structural Funds European Regional Development Fund European Social Fund European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance Single Programming Document

Priorities of the Rural Development Plan st priority – development of effective, flexible and sustainable development of rural economy The aim - to support the projects promoting effective and flexible business activities in rural area and to ensure the improvement of economical conditions for inhabitants of rural territories 2nd priority – preservation of biological diversity of rural areas The aim - to support the activities ensuring biologically diverse environment and quality of landscape

Riga Region Total area: km; city area: 4%; woods and forests: 47.4%; agricultural area: 32%. Population: 1.1million inhabitants (47.4% of all the inhabitants living in Latvia). 84% live in Riga and towns of Riga region, but 16% - in the rural area. Unemployment rate: 6%

Density

Density of Economic Activities

Economy The largest contribution to the regions economy is made by the metropolis. The key sectors of economics are: transit, finances, power industry, food production, wood-processing, furniture production, textile production and production of communication equipment. There are 27,695 companies in the region, 98% of them are private enterprises. 76,4% of all the enterprises are SME (enterprises with up to 9 employees).

Business Development Problems in the Rural Territory of Riga Region Undeveloped infrastructure (roads, IT) Insufficient qualification of labour resources Undeveloped cooperation links, networks Few businesses with high added value Lack of foreign investments Problems with overqualification, i.e, farming is still the main employment field Small density of population (7% - 12%) Undeveloped business support networks

Business & Technology Park TUKUMS 500 ha to Make Your Dreams Come True

Location 50 km from Riga, the capital of Latvia Bordered with Tukums, the centre of district 5 km from railway station "Tukums", the significant cargos trans-shipment point The cross point of important higways Riga – Ventspils and Jelgava –Tukums ~ people within 90 minutes radius can reach the object by highway connections

Potencial Regional Labor Force

Goal To create well developed knowledge based business area in the former military airfield Tukums

Objectives To elaborate the trends in the business and territorial development To establish the concept and strategy of BTP development To establish the socio-economic plan of the territory

Advantages Business industrial park: Transportation Distribution centres Logistics Centre of competences Garden and landscape services Professional training services Recycling Wood industry

Main Tasks to Develop the Rural Area To increase the capacity of human resources To facilitate the co-operation among NGOs To make the network of support centres with the aim to develop entrepreneurship The involvement of inhabitants in the implementation of activities in the local level

Key issues To increase the awareness of people living in the rural areas To provide information on investment programmes and financial opportunities To activate the capacity of local action groups To facilitate attractive projects To increase the capacity of competitiveness in the labour market To establish the network of coordinators To develop the possibility to use information technologies in rural areas To attract the attention of government to the problems in rural areas To build partnership among different sectors To solve social problems

Gain profit from changes, do not become their victim. (Brian Tracy)

Thanks for your attention! DACE GRĪNBERGA Tel Tukums district council Head of the Regional Development Centre