President of Latvia Egils Levits met with Economy Minister Ilze Indriksone at the Riga Castle today to discuss transformation of national economy through more successful transfer of research results into economy and reskilling of labour force to meet future labour market needs. Meeting also focused on special innovation testbed framework to speed up development of technologies and applications.
One of the key topics of the meeting was weak technology transfer ecosystem. Research, development and innovation investments remain low in Latvia, especially in private sector. According to President, cooperation between researchers and industries must become closer, while easier administration would make innovations less cumbersome and expensive. Economy Minister agreed that this is an area where a lot needs to be done.
President Levits also mentioned the open letter of Latvian Startup Association calling for additional funding for development of startup sector. Current funding levels are disproportionate to investment deals and overall impact on Latvia’s international reputation. Minister Indriksone promised to raise the issue during budget negotiations.
President of Latvia and Economy Minister discussed skills and employment policies. These policies lack clear coordination and are fragmented. Officials talked about future labour market trends in negative demographics. Minister Indriksone talked about plans to strengthen cooperation with Ministry of Education and Science and Human Capital Development Council under Ministry of Welfare in scope of defined priorities. One of such priorities is more successful integration of people with disabilities on the labour market. An issue recently vocalised by Apeirons Organization of people with disabilities and their friends during the meeting with Egils Levits.
Energy efficiency of residential houses was the main topic of previous meeting between President and Minister. According to Minister Indriksone, President’s suggestion to prepare legal changes to encourage households to apply for re-insulation of homes has been implemented.