Riga municipality this week organized a meeting with newcomers from abroad about business opportunities and support programs in Riga.
The event took place at the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA), which takes care of ensuring a sustainable environment for business development in the city. In the introductory part, the attendees were introduced to the three directions of RITA’s activities that affect investments and their attraction: popularizing the image of Riga, developing tourism and creating new support programs for business development. Priority business sectors are international business finance centers, biomedicine, start-ups, as well as the film industry. The Agency’s 2022 achievement is the created platform “Work in Riga”, where you can find the necessary information about work, relocation and living in Riga, it is useful for both employees and employers. In addition, RITA presented the Highly Qualified Specialists relocation support program offered to companies interested in hiring highly qualified foreign specialists to ensure their operations. RITA plans to establish a Migration Agency, which is intended as a one-stop agency for solving issues for foreigners who have decided to work in Riga.
At the event, the association “Latvijas Sociālās entrepreneurial asociazione” (LSUA) talked about the nature and principles of social entrepreneurship, the possibilities to get involved in it, as well as the possibilities of support and consultations for potential social entrepreneurs. Both social enterprises and natural persons can join this association. Those present learned that in Latvia it is possible to operate in various sectors of social entrepreneurship – in education, science, medicine, etc. – and got acquainted with concrete examples. For several years now, LSUA has been inviting participants to participate in the social entrepreneurship idea competition “The good will grow”, where you can receive two prizes worth 2,000 euros.
At this meeting, the association “Make Room Europe” told about its experience in business promotion – providing support to foreign students and other newcomers. The association called not to be afraid if the potential company does not have a lot of start-up capital, because various creative solutions are possible. The representatives of the association emphasized what foreign students should take into account when thinking about work opportunities, including obtaining residence permits, as well as the conditions regarding the number of working hours allowed during studies.
A newcomer who came to study in Latvia less than eight years ago shared his experience of establishing and operating companies in Riga. His first business idea arose in 2017, when he created a company that was initially engaged in attracting foreign young people to study in Latvia. Agreements were concluded with the majority of Latvian universities, as well as with the educational institutions of Georgia and Armenia. Realizing that many students come from India and that they are interested in entertainment in Riga, the next idea arose – to bring Indian films to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Within five years, this idea has turned into a very successful business – films are shown in cinemas “Cinamon” and “Forum Cinemas”.
At the end, the organization “Reach for Change” presented itself, which unites social entrepreneurs and calls for the development of innovative solutions that improve the lives of children and young people. The organization is actively working on the creation of a social entrepreneurship ecosystem and implements programs that involve partners from Latvia, Scandinavia, as well as other countries, such as the “Baltic Sea Impact Network”, in which 30 social entrepreneurs from Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia operate. The organization also offers a tool – an open platform, where you can register for free educational materials.
The event was organized by the Riga municipality, the public policy center “Providus” and the “Make Room Europe” foundation, implementing the European Union Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) project “Migrant integration with locally developed experience” (Migrant Integration Through Locally Designed Experience, MILE). The target group of the MILE project is immigrants, municipal employees and integration policy makers, the aim of the project is to ensure the creation and implementation of a more successful integration policy at the local government level, including the needs of various groups in society and promoting the opportunities of citizens to actively and responsibly participate in the development of the municipality, the community and their own lives. The next project events are planned for the fall of this year.
