Latvia is ready to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and calls on the Republic of Korea to support our country’s accession to this organisation during the next round of enlargement, said Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, when meeting with Prime Minister Chung Hong-won during her official visit to the Republic of Korea.
In their conversation, Āboltiņa highlighted Latvia’s commitment to share with the OECD countries the experience gained during the transition period and in overcoming the crisis. She also pointed out that compared with other candidate countries, Latvia stands out as one that has successfully implemented reforms and is an active participant in several bodies of this organisation.
“We have all the prerequisites for deepening the economic cooperation between Latvia and South Korea – namely, the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea has been concluded, the convention on avoidance of double taxation and the investment protection agreement have been signed, and we have established a visa-free regime,” stressed Speaker Āboltiņa in discussing their bilateral relations.
“With its well-developed railway and port infrastructure, as well as its competitive labour force, Latvia plays a crucial role in the European transport and logistics system. This is confirmed by the fact that the United States and other Western countries use Latvia’s ports and transit infrastructure to transport non-military cargoes to Afghanistan,” said the Speaker when characterising the advantages of our country. “This experience enables us to develop the Northern Distribution Network as an economically viable transit route connecting the West and the East. Latvia sees this network as one of the cornerstones for developing the New Silk Road,” emphasised Solvita Āboltiņa.
The Speaker of the Saeima expressed her gratification that Korean enterprises such as Samsung and LG have chosen Riga as a regional centre for operations and have thus recognised the advantages our country offers. “In terms of investments, the Republic of Korea is one of the leading East Asian nations. We hope that an increasingly larger number of South Korean companies will take advantage of our business environment,” Speaker Āboltiņa noted adding that Latvia offers not only its convenient geographical location and experience of working in the markets of Russia and other post-Soviet states but also support and readiness to develop joint projects in these countries.
In discussing Latvia’s possible accession to the euro area, Āboltiņa emphasised: “Latvia has been complying with the Maastricht criteria since last September. We are now waiting for the European Central Bank and the European Commission to publish the extraordinary convergence report, and we hope that the decision will be positive.”
With regard to the economic situation in our country, Solvita Āboltiņa stressed that Latvia’s economy is continuing to grow rapidly. Its GDP increase of 5.6% in the first quarter of this year is the highest rate in the EU. The Speaker of the Saeima noted to the Korean Prime Minister that these achievements enable Latvia to move towards two strategic goals, i.e., to join the euro area on 1 January 2014 and to become a member of the OECD.
From 21 to 25 May, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, is on an official visit to the Republic of Korea, where she is meeting with Kang Chang-hee, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea; Chung Hong-won, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, as well as Byun Jae-ill, Chairman of the Korea – Latvia Parliamentary Friendship Group. During the visit, several other meetings are planned to give an insight into South Korea’s business and cultural environment.
Saeima Press Service