Other events in Baltic States

A new board has been elected for the British Chamber of Commerce in Latvia (BCCL) during the BCCL annual general meeting, LETA was informed by BCCL representative Zane Bojare.

The new BCCL board members are Steve Austwick, director of KPMG Baltics, Vineta Cukste, partner of the law firm Kronbergs & Èukste, Malcolm Dent, Chairman of the Board of Water and Environmental management Services, Nil Jenning, director of the Middle Europe Investments, Arnis Marcinkevics, Senior Consultant at Hauska & Partner, Ieva Morica, board member of the Partners in Ideas Fund and Gregorijs Pomerantsevs, the national airline airBaltic vice president.

Anita Kaleja, director of the real estate management company Sirta, has been re-elected as the chairperson of the BCCL board.

British Ambassador in Latvia Richard Moon said in the opening speech of the BCCL annual board meeting that he was pleased with the successful business cooperation between Latvia and the United Kingdom, and pointed to the significance of the BCCL in strengthening the economic relations.

"Disregarding the difficult economic situation in the country and other changes in the social and business environment of Latvia, the last year has been successful for the BCCL," Kaleja said.

She pointed out that the new board will have to face a serious challenge – to continue to support successful development of the members in the changing economic circumstances, as well as to encourage the implementation of corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility principles.

BCCL Director Ieva Gruzina informed that since the beginning of the last year BCCL has experienced a rapid growth in the number of members. At the present moment BCCL with 147 members is the largest foreign chamber of commerce in Latvia.

For several years the BCCL members have been actively introducing charity traditions in Latvia, which are an indispensable part of a socially responsible business, Gruzina explained.

This year the Chamber succeeded in collecting a record high amount of money for the Salvation Army's children's center Patverums. Next year the BCCL plans to support the social rehabilitation and training center Dzivesprieks and the handicapped youth's center Ceribu sparni, Kaleja informed.

BCCL was founded in 1996, its members include not only British and Latvian enterprises, but also companies from Sweden, the United States, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Norway. The main aim of the BCCL is to provide the entrepreneurs with opportunities to meet and exchange information, to develop trade and to stand for an ethic and honest business practice in Latvia.