Janis Naglis Thinks That The EBRD Meeting In Riga Will Differ
Greatly From The Previous Ones
It is always not easy to foretell the success of an event and the
running of it if everything happens for the first time. That is the case with the
organization of the EBRD Board of Governors’ Meeting, as Latvia has never staged such a
large and outstanding event. To take a side-glance and gain an insight into the previous
EBRD Meetings, we called on Janis Naglis, Director General of the Latvian Privatisation
Agency, who attended the EBRD Meetings in St. Petersburg in 1994, Sofia in 1996 and Kiev
in 1998 as well as the Meetings in London every other year.
How do the previous EBRD Meetings compare with one another and
especially with the forthcoming Annual Meeting in Riga?
First of all, I would like to think that the nicest of all Meetings is
likely to take place in Riga because the distances between different venues are not great,
the buildings are located in the loveliest parts of the city and the transfer from one
place to another will be pretty simple as the hotels are within easy reach. Every city
that has hosted the EBRD Meeting features some peculiarity. Kiev surprised us with
completely new means of transport. We in turn have attempted to organise the Meeting very
rationally so as to offer enough convenience without unnecessary ostentatious ness and
waste of money.
With regard to venue location Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is
difficult to compete with since all the events were staged in one building, but, in my
opinion, that was the only advantage.
In Riga the Meeting’s official programme is going to be considerably
different, as regards to the Business Forum and also the Governors’ Meeting itself, as
well as the annual report and decision adoption. Not only separate countries are going to
represent themselves but also the region as a whole will be focused on. This will be a new
approach if compared with all the preceding Meetings both in London and outside.
Differences can also be traced in the very organization of the Meeting.
For example, the Kiev Meeting was arranged on the government level, with a great many
people participating in the preparation process. In Riga, however, the responsibilities
have been well distributed, a small but efficient and very productive firm Birojs 2000
is in charge of all direct organizational issues, the supervisory function and the
strategic alignment being carried out by the Supervisory Committee, which is composed of
ministry representatives.
The Meeting organized by Birojs 2000 will also stand out from
all the previous ones in that numerous quality information materials have been prepared to
ensure this gathering greater publicity.
The countries, which previously hosted the EBRD Meeting, Bulgaria,
the Ukraine, for example, cannot be ranked among the most developed ones; Latvia currently
is also in need of foreign investment. Have any positive changes taken place in these
countries as a result of the Meeting and do you anticipate any favourable changes for
Latvia?
In Bulgaria the 1996 EBRD Annual Meeting took place simultaneously with
the change of the political regime, a transition from the communist government to a much
more liberal one occurred, which resulted in speeding up reforms, investment attraction
and privatisation.
In Kiev the process of privatisation accelerated as well, the issues
related to privatisation in the energy sector and restructuring of power enterprises being
tackled very vigorously. In this respect we might even find ourselves falling behind them.
In my opinion, the attraction of investment to Latvia is going to yield
a positive result since we have much to show. There are projects with the participation of
the EBRD that have been remarkably successful, i.e. Latvenergo, the EBRD
participation in the Ventspils port enterprises.
Moreover, I think that the Meeting is going to promote closer
co-operation of all the three Baltic States. The organisation of the Baltic Business
Conference is based on proportional participation of all the three countries in this
project. It might even encourage our political leaders to start thinking about the
simplification of the strict border crossing procedure.
It will definitely open up new possibilities for investment attraction
because during the Baltic Business Conference not only the implemented projects
will be presented but also brand new projects in diverse branches of economy - banking and
finances, telecommunication, transit business, etc. will be promoted. This will be the
right time for attracting foreign investors’ attention and money to Latvia’s economic
development.
Soon the year 1999 will have passed and a new year will begin. With
the coming of 2000 the last and most responsible preparation period for the EBRD Meeting
will set in. What would your wishes be to Birojs 2000 and the Supervisory Committee
embarking upon this last stage?
I wish Birojs 2000 to carry on with their work at an even
pace so that in May they would not have to go by leaps and bounds to finish everything in
good time. May all things take their right course! I believe it is essential that next
year Birojs 2000 offer their expertise and ideas as an independent private company.
I wish the Supervisory Committee to cooperate successfully with the
Government and Latvian politicians in the future as well in order to fulfil the promises
regarding financing as planned and perhaps be even more generous.
I would like all the participants of the EBRD Meeting and our guests to
fall in love with Riga and our country. May they take advantage of every opportunity
offered by our ancient Riga and new Latvia!
