2020 has been unprecedented in every sense of the word. For AmCham it's been a year of transformation, solidarity and creativity. We held 58 events with 3700+ attendees, welcomed 20+ new members and introduced webinar series to exchange best practices about navigating the pandemic. We raised the level of our advocacy with 5 active work groups, promoted 7 advocacy topics. Together with our partners we co-hosted the annual American-Latvian Innovation Award and the first Riga Health Data Summit. We held numerous events together with our closest allies FICIL, AmChams in Europe and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Thank you to our Board members, working group representatives, partners, speakers and most importantly, members for your support and dedication. We look forward to continue working with you in the New Year and wish you health and happiness!

AmCham raised €2500 at its Virtual Christmas Charity event for five charities: Bezvests.lv, Pink Train Foundation, RMHC Latvija, SOS Children Villages and Latvian Foster Families this year. Over 40 members joined to celebrate the season of giving, award AmCham Members of Year, look back at some of the past year's highlights and enjoy virtual networking.

On December 11 members had an opportunity to join an online meeting with the Deputy State Secretary and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economy who shared their insights on Latvia’s plan for economic recovery.

On International Anti-Corruption Day together with OSAC, U.S. Embassies in Latvia, Lithuania and Estionia, FBI, U.S. Department of Justice and our Pan-Baltic sister AmChams we co-hosted a webinar on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This event provided an overview of the FCPA and offered insights into building an anti-corruption corporate compliance program and a resilient corporate culture to combat corruption and its corrosive effects.

On December 1, members had an opportunity to hear a discussion on major risks and opportunities arising from the climate change. A wide range of experts from the Ministry of Economy, Ministry for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Swedbank, Nasdaq Riga and Balticovo shared their insights on policy, technology and market changes entrepreneurs will have to take into account to be able to adapt to the new rules of the game. Revisit the event!

The healthcare work group members came together for a brainstorming session to discuss potential topics related to healthcare agenda for the next year. The work group identified 5 projects with the most significant impact and correlation with the AmCham Vision statement on Latvian healthcare.

Yet another live streaming event was held in partnership with Tatarklubben where David Furlonger and Christophe Uzureau, Vice Presidents at the world-renowned research and advisory company Gartner, introduced with the key insights from their new book The Real Business of Blockchain.

Biogen Latvia, a U.S.-based company, one of the world's largest biotechnology companies for the development and commercialization of therapies specializing in neurological disease research, has joined the Chamber as a Corporate Contributing member.

DATAMED, a leading cloud-based, vendor-neutral PACS archive provider, telemedicine and healthcare software developer and health IS provider, has joined the Chamber as a Corporate member. DATAMED offers a unique multi-organization, multi-technology platform, incorporating and consolidating medical diagnostics information of various devices and formats.

Orients Audit & Finance, with a powerful team of specialists in the field of audit, tax, full-circle accountancy, and transfer pricing, has joined the Chamber as a Corporate member. Orients Audit & Finance has 20 years of experience in the market in 30+ industries.

Aldis Alliks, an advocate and a member of the Latvian Collegium of Sworn Advocates with legal expertise in litigation, corporate law and contract law, has recently re-joined the Chamber as an Individual member.

The Member of the Year Award recognizes particular members who have gone the extra mile in supporting AmCham in the past year. Members of the Year 2020 are Citadele banka, Eversheds Sutherland Bitans, NCH Advisors, Roche Latvija and Baltic-American Freedom Foundation who have been the most active and engaged members throughout 2020 and have contributed to facilitating AmCham's mission to foster U.S.-Latvia business ties and build a better business environment in Latvia.

AmCham is conducting a survey to identify the skills our member companies require. Feedback on the training programs that companies have used for upskilling employees, both in-house or state-run is also very welcome. Please take a survey to help us prepare more specific recommendations for improving the content of upskilling and reskilling programs: HERE The survey is anonymous and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. We would appreciate it if business leaders or HR managers could fill it by Friday, January 15.

As part of its global initiative to bring digital skills to people around the world, Microsoft, in cooperation with the LUMIC, ISM University of Management and Economics in Vilnius and Estonian Business School in Tallinn has created a "Baltic Digital Skills Development Program". You have an opportunity to apply for one of the two (or both) modules offered in the program, free of charge. Registration is open by January 11, 2021. Apply HERE!

The Foreign Investors Council in Latvia or FICIL is one of AmCham's closest advocacy partners. You are invited to take part in one of its many working groups. The following WGs have scheduled meetings in February 2021: healthcare, labor force, investment protection and court efficiency as well as tax policy and administration. If you would like to take part in one of the work groups, please sign up directly here. Please note that work groups formulate opinions relevant to the business climate as a whole, not individual investors.

Recent report by VA Government​ on Businesses and Public expectations 2020 shows that Latvian society's expectations towards companies have increased significantly. A growing number of the population considers aspects other than price and quality when choosing products and services, including: a business’s approach to environmental protection, if they take a stance on issues important to society, if they have a clear viewpoint on various socioeconomic issues, if they act ethically towards their employees and if they are transparent.

Leinonen Latvia has compiled useful information on available state aid to businesses due to COVID-19. It includes support to industries affected by the crisis; measures to employers, self-employed persons and patent fee payers; measures in the tax administration sphere as well as the support provided by Altum.

December 2020

As the year is coming to a close, we would like to thank you, our members, for your continued support in 2020. Despite everything that has happened this year, there is still a lot to be thankful for. We held numerous events, introduced new virtual programs gathering over 3700 participants. We have promoted 7 advocacy topics and have 5 active working groups. Our membership stands at an all-time high with 157 members. Thank you for your engagement throughout this past year. Wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Upcoming events

Jan 07, 2021

from 16:00 till 17:00

Feb 23, 2021

from 13:00 till 14:00