OREANDA-NEWS. August 27, 2012. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, during the meeting with the new Ambassador of Germany to Latvia Andrea Wiktorin informed about Latvia's objectives to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the euro area, and received confirmation that Germany will support these initiatives.
 
The Ambassador noted that after the fulfilment of the Maastricht criteria, Germany will be ready to support Latvia's accession to the euro area. Germany also supports Latvia's willingness to approach the OECD.

The Prime Minister and the Ambassador held the same opinion that the bilateral relations of Latvia and Germany are very good and the Ambassador confirmed that the objective during her term of office will be to continue to develop them even closer, seeking new opportunities for cooperation. V.Dombrovskis emphasized that the presence of German businesses in Latvia is of outmost importance for Latvia and we are interested in attracting new investment and expand the economic cooperation.

Discussing the bilateral cooperation in the European Union, V.Dombrovskis and A.Wiktorin shared the same opinion that, in view of current problems in certain countries of the euro area, it is important to protect the progress in mutual integration jointly made by all Member States by replacing the heated debate about the future of the euro area with pragmatic and convincing solutions.

Indicators of trade between Latvia and Germany:

According to the total turnover of trade in goods, Germany ranks the 3rd among the foreign trade partners of Latvia, and the total trade turnover amounts to EUR 838.27 million. The total turnover of trade in goods between Latvia and Germany has increased by 6 % compared to the first-half year of 2011.

The major export goods to Germany in Q2 2012 were timber and its products (25.14%), metals and metal products (16.37%), means of transport (7.46%), machinery and mechanisms, electric appliances (7.17%), chemical products (6.37%), while the import from Germany is dominated by machinery and mechanisms, electric appliances (27.45%), means of transport (23.36%), plastic and plastic goods, rubber and rubber products (8.49%), metals and metal products (8.37%), chemical products (7.60%).

According to the data of the Bank of Latvia, currently Germany is the fifth major investor according the direct foreign investment (EUR 474 million). The investments are made mainly in supply of electricity, gas and water (35%), operations with real estate (22%) and manufacturing industry (17%).