The Foreign Investors' Council in Latvia (FICIL)

In the late 1990s investors started to look into the option of starting a regular forum for foreign investors and the government and, as a result, the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia was founded. FICIL held its first two High Council meetings with the Latvian Government in 1999 and has held at least one meeting every year since then.

BritCham is an Associate Member of FICIL and one of its founding members, and takes an active role in its activities – BritCham members are in FICIL working groups and on the Executive Board. Māris Vainovskis, Senior Partner at Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns, one of BritCham’s Platinum Members, currently serves as Vice-chairperson of the FICIL Executive Board.

FICIL’s mission is to improve the business environment in Latvia through active dialogue with the government. Drawing on its members’ experience and expertise, FICIL advises the Latvian government in an unbiased and transparent manner on improving the investment climate for investors who follow ESG principles: sustainability, ethical business practices and social responsibility.

Accordingly, the following principles lie behind FICIL’s activities:

• FICIL works with the government of Latvia in solving common problems shared by its members
• FICIL does not lobby or represent interests of individual companies
• FICIL focuses on generic issues of concern to the wider investors' community in Latvia

BritCham members are welcome to take part in FICIL working groups via BritCham membership.