Kurzeme, Latvia

LIEPAJA

Liepaja is situated in the Southwestern part of Latvia, on the Baltic Sea.

Liepaja is the third largest city in Latvia, a city of successful changes as the people living here on the stretch of sand between the amber sea and the lake for more than 750 years have always been tough, wise and daring.
The length of the seashore is 15 km.

Population of Liepaja city: 84 747 (3.7% of Latvia)
 51.8%   are Latvians,
 33.1%   are Russians,
 15. 1%  other nationalities.

Density: 1415

Main industries: metal processing, textile, food, paper production, ship building.

Main advantages: low-tax environment, ice-free port, easy access to Western and Eastern countries.

Main attractions: Karosta - former military base from Tsarist and Soviet time, Holy Trinity Church organ and the beautiful beach.

Events: classical and rock music festivals, international rally Kurzeme.

Liepaja is the best place to be! You want to know why? We can tell you. Liepaja has balance in everything:   
The city is not crowded yet, it has all the best business and entertainment possibilities one could need.
Liepaja has a hard working administration and a very energetic community ready to participate in development of the city.
Liepaja has  industrial production of both delicate lingerie and hard metal products.
Liepaja port has both successful commercial activity within special economic zone and yacht port for tourists.

You can come to Liepaja by bus, by car, by train.
There is an airport in Liepaja too, but because of the crisis there are not any flights at the moment. But people could fly to Copenhagen, Hamburg, Moscow and Riga some years ago.

You can travel through the city by bus and minibus.
You can travel by tram – the oldest one in Baltic States. In 2009 it celebrates its 110 anniversary.

Unemployment: before the crisis unemployment was about 7%, now it is nearly 16%.

57%   unemployed are at the age of 25 – 49,
29%   are older than 50.

51, 4%   unemployed are women, 48.6% - men.

Administration:
Liepaja city is governed by Liepaja City Council which consists of:
• the legislative body of the city
• the executive institutions
City Council consists of 15 members elected once in four year period in municipal elections. The Council selects from its members the Chairman of City Council (also called City Mayor), the First Vice Chairperson and a Vice Chairperson (Deputy Mayors) which are full time positions. City Council also appoints the members of four standing committees, which prepare issues to be discussed in the Council meetings:
•  Finance Committee
•  City Economy and Development Committee
•  Social Affairs, Health Care, Education and Public Order Committee
• Culture and Sports Committee
The work of the legislative body of the city is supported by many executive institutions and departments of Liepaja City Council. The city administration has 118 staff members, who work to provide a full range of municipal services to the community. Two Mini City Halls – branches of the city administration have been opened in the dwelling neighborhoods of the city in order to bring the municipal services closer to people.
Liepaja City Council extends its activities and distributes information with the help of Representative Office in Riga, which also helps to facilitate the co-operation with state institutions.
•  Social Affairs, Health Care, Education and Public Order Committee
• Culture and Sports Committee
The work of the legislative body of the city is supported by many executive institutions and departments of Liepaja City Council. The city administration has 118 staff members, who work to provide a full range of municipal services to the community. Two Mini City Halls – branches of the city administration have been opened in the dwelling neighborhoods of the city in order to bring the municipal services closer to people.
Liepaja City Council extends its activities and distributes information with the help of Representative Office in Riga, which also helps to facilitate the co-operation with state institutions.

Major  fields  of industry and short description of every main field:

Main industries: metal processing, textile, food, paper production, ship building
Main advantages: low-tax environment, ice-free port, easy access to Western and Eastern countries

Liepaja is a city successfully combining manufacturing traditions, an ice-free port, great intellectual potential and rich historical and cultural heritage. The recent years have marked development of the city – it has become tidier, new public facilities have been opened, local community takes pride in their city and its future.

The economic development of Liepaja is based on traditional industrial infrastructure, adding the possibilities of port. The largest amount of foreign investments has been made in industry – 69% of the total investment has been made in metal production,  9%  in textile production. Investments have also been made in trade (4%) and construction (5%).

Another indicator of development is the volume of construction. In 2004 it has been 23.3 million lats compared to 4.2 million lats in 1995. Increase in the construction volume has been especially high in the port. Construction of new modern terminals and port dredging has increased the competitiveness of Liepaja port, the results of which can be seen already now – the increase in port cargo turnover reached 33.1% in 2003.

Liepaja has many tools for development and one of the most promising is Liepaja Special Economic Zone, which offers many tax incentives and other kinds of assistance for companies wanting to establish business on its territory.

Education:
The number of higher education study programmes available in Liepaja has increased from 45 in 1995 to 95 in 2004. The number of students studying in higher education establishments has increased more than 3 times during this period – from 1750 in 1995 to 6244 in 2003.Liepaja offers a wide range of education programmes. There are six higher education establishments in Liepaja:
• Liepaja University (teachers, social workers, philologists, designers, sociologists, business managers, computer specialists, tourism managers),
• Liepaja Branch of Riga Technical University (accountants, business managers, specialists in marketing, sales, insurance, human resources; bachelors of economics, mechanics, construction and building, energetic and electrotechnics, electronics, computer controlled electrotechnics, computer studies, masters of quality control, business and management),
• Liepaja Branch of Baltic Russian Institute (law, business management and administration),
• Liepaja Branch of Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy (commerce and company management, office management, psychology),
• Liepaja Branch of Law College (law),
• Liepaja Branch of School of Business Administration Turiba (law, finance and accounting, hotel management).
Vocational education programmes are available in Vocational School No. 31 (professions in the sphere of construction) and Vocational School No. 48 (dressmakers, designers, cooks, sails persons, hotel staff, housekeepers). Other vocational and professional education programmes are offered by Maritime College (sea ship navigators, ship mechanics, stevedores), School of Medicine (nurses, assistant medical staff), Art College, Music College, Liepaja Branch of Riga Technical University (accounting, finance, economics, industry, transport), Liepaja Pedagogy Academy (pedagogy programmes, professional programmes in computer studies, tourism, advertising design, bibliography, company management).
Secondary education programmes are available in 11 secondary schools. All secondary schools offer 2 – 4 education programmes. The recent years have shown a tendency of increase in the number of pupils in the 10th grade. Every year around 80% of secondary school graduates continue their education in colleges.
Interest education for children and youth is available in 8 municipal institutions: Children and Youth Centre, Youth Centre, Centre for Young Technicians, Art and Creation Centre, Complex Sport School, Gymnastics School, Tennis Sports School, Sports School (football, track-and-field athletics), Basketball Sports School.
Starting with the autumn of 1999 there have been hockey related activities in education – 2 hockey classes have been established in Secondary School No. 8.

Main fields of business:
1)  service industry (61,6%),
Including wholesale, retail trade, car and household repair -26.3 %,
public administration, protection and insurance -14.3%

education – 13.7%
transport, communications – 13.1%
operations on real estate, rent – 10.7%

2) industrial production of goods (38.4%)
mining and manufacturing -68.7%
construction – 23%

Liepaja is the main city – exporter in Latvia.
84.8% of all production produced in Liepaja is exported.
14.2% of all Latvia’s export comes from Liepaja.

There are all types of companies in Liepaja –big, SMEs, micro, individual etc.

The biggest companies:
“Liepajas Metalurgs” (metallurgical factory), produces steel and wide       variety of rolled metal and castings.
“Lauma Lingerie” (manufacture of underwear) – produces different fabric    for underwear and sews underwear.
Liepaja port - large cargo turnover.
                                   “Liepajas Papirs” - printing products
                                   “Livu Alus daritava” – produces beer etc.

Middle-size companies – fish processing, furniture, underwear sewing companies, technical facilities etc.

All companies try to be innovative, to raise their competitiveness.