We are frequently asked by people about the business reason for Diatom's membership in the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia (AmCham Latvia). Today we would like to share some of the clear benefits of being members of AmCham Latvia, describe our experience collaborating with US companies, and describe why, in our opinion, those companies frequently choose Latvian companies as partners.

About AmCham Latvia

First, a few words about AmCham Latvia: The organization was founded almost 25 years ago by a group of 27 American investors. It is currently the leading foreign business organization in Latvia, representing over 140 members, which include the largest international companies in the country. When AmCham Latvia was established, the US Embassy was key in bringing the members together and pushing the idea toward fruition. AmCham Latvia is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental entity fully supported by its members.

For Diatom, it is always a big pleasure to come to AmCham Latvia events, be it Business After Hours, Member Focus Lunches or Welcome New Member Meetings. The networking events give members the chance to meet people from multiple businesses. These AmCham Latvia events are fantastic environments in which to expand the business network. The member list includes some of the country's biggest companies; being an AmCham Latvia member always gives us an opportunity to connect with other businesses, government representatives and other leaders.

Moreover, AmCham Latvia's committees and board develop positions on issues affecting members, from trade to tax to industry standards. Through these positions, they advocate for members in front of government here and in the United States. Enforcing and promoting our brand in AmCham Latvia gives us the opportunity to meet potential clients. Thus, we are able to receive requests for mobile app development and to give various IT consultations on web and desktop development.

Diatom Enterprises: our experience collaborating with US companies

Diatom Enterprises is a medium-sized software development company, confidently holding high positions in the IT market in Latvia for almost 15 years. Our customers around the globe find our software development services to be of outstanding quality and at an affordable price. We do developments in .NET, Ruby on Rails, Node.JS, Angular.JS, React.JS and other software development technologies.

We have a lot of experience working with American companies (36% of all our current projects come from the United States). We have worked in various industries on multiple IT projects of different complexities, including an internal management system for the hospitality field, a website with a complex internal data management system for the largest real estate company in the United States, and other mobile application and web services development projects.

Percentage of Diatom’s clients by country

Why are American companies interested in outsourcing IT to Latvian companies?

Many American companies outsource their development work to European IT companies. For instance, IBM now has more employees in Europe than in the United States. This situation is true for other, much smaller companies as well. We think that the reason for such behavior is that the skills and quality of developers are similar, while the wages are much lower. Another advantage for American companies is that European IT workers speak English proficiently on the same level as native speakers, which is essential, because only through good communication can a project be successful for both sides.

Estimated hourly labour costs for the whole economy in euros, 2016 Enterprises with 10 or more employees (Source: ec.europa.eu)

Outsourcing to Latvian IT companies has grown into one of the most promising sectors of the local economy. The number of employees in local software development companies grows every year, and the number of Western clients increases as well.

There are other important advantages that encourage American companies to choose Latvian IT companies:

• There is a secure political regime.
• Latvia is member of the EU and NATO.
• Latvia's income tax is twice as low as other outsourcing destinations, such as India (15 to 30 percent).
• Latvia is ranked among the top 15 countries in terms of pay and productivity worldwide.
• There are lots of educational programs in Latvia, and IT is among the most popular programs in universities.

In addition to this, software development work in Latvia is based on the T&M model and uses an iterative approach in development. This helps clients change some of the details of the project during development without much effort in order to achieve the best results in a reasonable amount of time.
Conclusion

In conclusion, we would like to say that being member of AmCham Latvia brings unquestionable benefits and can help develop your business in various ways: expanding your business contact network, attending educational events and more. Because of the long history and positive collaboration between US and Latvian companies, a membership with AmCham Latvia opens new doors and brings new business opportunities.

If you are located in the United States and interested in outsourcing IT to a Latvian software development company, reach out to us to learn more about our professional experience.