Latvia offers all the infrastructure and services companies need to operate, at levels that meet or exceed European standards!
Business development centers
Several facilities offer companies advantageous locations and amenities for setting up and expanding operations:
- Five Free Ports and Special Economic Zones offer favorable tax conditions
- Over 10 business parks located in major cities across Latvia provide a host of options and all necessary utilities suited to individual company needs
- Regional business incubators enable small and medium businesses to hit the ground running by providing several provisions and services at discounted cost.
Information and communication technology
Latvia has one of the fastest telecommunications infrastructures in the world, providing companies seamless connection with customers and partners abroad. According to World Broadband Speed League data, in 2018 Latvia has 13th fastest internet speed in the world (28,63 mb/s), not only outperforming Estonia and Lithuania, but also such locations as Hong Kong, United States, France, Spain and others technologically advanced countries.
Transportation and logistics
Several major international logistics companies (including DHL, Schenker – BTL, Kuehne and Nagel, Maersk, etc.) operate in Latvia, providing a wide-range of services utilizing Latvia’s ports, roads and railways.
Ports
One of Latvia’s main assets providing access to markets is its maritime links. Latvia has three major, ice-free international ports—Riga, Liepaja and Ventspils—that are closely linked into the country’s infrastructure by rail, road and pipeline. Latvia is an active partner of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme, an EU funding programme that facilitates transnational cooperation in the region.
Roads
To the east, Latvia is one of only three EU countries that have a direct-access border with Russia, making it ideal for east/west trade. The Russian highway M9—the developed road-freight route known as the Baltic Highway—connects Moscow directly with Riga, where it also joins with the Via Baltica highway running north and south between Helsinki and Prague.
Rail: Latvia’s rail is reliable, even used by NATO to deliver non-military supplies directly from ships from Latvian ports through to Afghanistan. The Trans-Siberian railway connects Riga directly with Moscow, with regularly-scheduled, container-block trains. Latvia and Russia share a common railway gauge and an infrastructure base that continues to facilitate growth in the flow of trade. In the meantime the Trans-European rail transport project Rail Baltica aiming to integrate the Baltic States in the European rail network is in the pipeline.
Air: Riga International Airport (RIX) is the largest airport in the Baltics with direct flights to more than 80 destinations around. the world. RIX is also conveniently located, directly connecting with major roads including Via Baltica and the Baltic Highway.