Our first business luncheon of this year featured Mārtiņš Kazaks, Member of the Council of the Bank of Latvia who gave a short overview of macroeconomic conditions and growth prospects for Latvia projecting GDP growth at 3.6% this year.

The results of the FICIL Sentiment Index 2018 study suggest that the investment attractiveness of Latvia, according to the viewpoints of foreign investors, has remained the same as compared to the situation one year ago scoring 2,5 points out of 5. Main concerns identified in the business environment include corruption in the public sector, availability and quality of labor, efficiency of the public sector.

On December 14 the winners of the Human Development Award 2018 were announced: entrepreneur Marika Ģederte, teacher Anna Kupre, Children's Hospital Foundation and Kraslava Mommy's Club. The Award is hosted by AmCham, U.S. Embassy in Latvia and the Civic Alliance with the aim to honor inspirational people, businesses and organizations that have significantly contributed to human development. The award promotes initiatives that reduce inequality and foster social responsibility, education, health and well-being of the Latvian people.

AmCham kicked off the holiday season with its annual Christmas Charity reception raising EUR 1710 for our principal charities. In total our members have donated over EUR 2700 to RMHC Latvija, SOS Children Villages and Latvian Foster Families this year. More than 80 adults and 30 children joined the Christmas event and were greeted by AmCham President and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy. Various activities for children were offered, including Christmas crafts, making gingerbread cookies, roasting of marshmallows and a special kids raffle. A new Member of the Year Award was introduced naming the most invested members thanks to whom AmCham continues to grow stronger and better connected.