Join Latvia on its way to becoming an international innovation hub

The new economic planning period from 2021 to 2027 in Latvia is focused on supporting innovation in high value-added industries through a strategy known as smart re-industrialization. This strategy serves as the foundation for research, development, and innovation involving various stakeholders from the public, academic, and private sectors.

The strategy identifies five high value-added industries: Bioeconomy, Biomed and Biotech, Smart materials, Engineering, Smart energy and mobility, and Information and Communication Technologies. In the coming years, there will be increased concentration of innovation and science within these industries, accompanied by efforts to boost human capital and establish more technology transfer and export support mechanisms.

Attracting foreign direct investments to these industries is a top priority, facilitated by initiatives such as the Green Channel. The government, in collaboration with partners, is working to make Latvia an attractive location for entrepreneurship, research, idea development, testing, and global market entry, in order to maintain a highly competitive innovation environment.

Significant efforts have been made to accelerate the development of the local startup ecosystem, and recently, there has been a growing focus on the role of state-owned enterprises in the overall innovation ecosystem. Latvia aims to join international research hubs like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN). Additionally, Latvia seeks to become a proactive launchpad for innovation in DeepTech, 5G, and Precision Medicine, playing a crucial role in transforming the country into a globally recognized hub for knowledge and solution development.