President of Latvia emphasises the importance of social dialogue in the state budgeting process

On 27 October, President Edgars Rinkēvičs met with Andris Bite, President of the Employers' Confederation of Latvia (LDDK), and Kaspars Gorkšs, General Director, in the Riga Castle. In the conversation, the parties addressed the issues of strengthening social dialogue between the state and business, tax policy and the restriction of the shadow economy.

The two sides discussed the importance of social dialogue and ways to strengthen it, including during the drafting of the state budget. E. Rinkēvičs expressed the view that strengthening social dialogue and cooperation between the public administration, entrepreneurs and wider society is essential to ensure that any development-oriented changes are supported and, therefore, put into practice.

"For our economy to thrive, we need close cooperation at various levels. In today's conversation, we paid particular attention to tax policy issues and principles that would help reduce the informal economy. This is the task of policy makers and an important precondition for the country to be competitive and attract new ideas and investments," President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs said after the meeting.

During the meeting with LDDK representatives, E. Rinkēvičs also discussed further cooperation in planning foreign visits with business delegations in order to promote export capacity and attraction of investments.