The information was translated using the ChatGPT service.
On June 27 this year, the Ministry of Economics informed the Cabinet of Ministers about the progress of tasks included in the Business Environment Improvement Action Plan for 2019 - 2022. The information detailed the progress of the 40 tasks in the action plan and its objective of creating a business environment attractive to entrepreneurs, with accessible and understandable services while reducing administrative burdens.
Reviewing the plan's progress, it was determined that 32 of the 40 tasks have been completed, the implementation of 7 tasks will continue until the end of this year, and one task has been abandoned. The plan included measures in 12 key areas of the business environment – starting a business, construction process, real estate registration, investor rights protection, accounting and taxes, cross-border trade – customs, contract fulfillment, electricity connection, restructuring, human capital, state service digitalization and accessibility, and innovation promotion.
The business environment should be accessible and understandable to entrepreneurs, minimizing bureaucratic and administrative burdens, simplifying the regulatory environment, and collaborating more and delegating responsibility to industries themselves. "We have included this in our report on priority actions for economic transformation, moving towards an innovative economic model where digitalization of processes will play a significant role to create a competitive business environment," emphasized the Minister of Economics, Ilze Indriksone.
Highlighting some of the most significant measures introduced to improve the business environment, significant improvements have been made to the VID systems. EDS improvements mean that the E-health system sends VID EDS information on opened, closed, and annulled sick leave sheets at least once a day. Also, the VID Export Control system has been improved so that all goods movement procedures can be performed within the same customs procedures, reducing administrative burdens without submitting a new declaration.
Improvements have also been made to the availability of foreign labor, shortening the minimum period for announcing a job vacancy from 30 working days to 10 if the employer wishes to hire employees from third countries. It has also been decided that foreigners engaged in commercial activities, who are not residing in Latvia, can receive a foreigner's eID activated with an e-signature to remotely finalize deals.
Simultaneously, policies aimed at business development are being encouraged in state administration by organizing training for state administration employees in better regulation in the small and medium-sized business sector. 15,390 state employees have been trained, and there's been a 15% increase in e-service usage among state institutions, residents, and businesses.
Amendments to the Commercial Law have been made, which foresee a shortening of the SIA transformation into AS from 4 months to 1.5 months. The introduction of a new system for the Company Register continues, which will ensure company registration online only, reducing the number of administrative procedures. As part of the Company Register modernization project, it's planned to gradually introduce a function for opening bank accounts online.
One of the priorities of the Economic Transformation Plan is institutional transformation, bureaucracy reduction, and dialogue with entrepreneurs, which includes improving the business environment. Currently, in collaboration with professional entrepreneur associations, work continues to define new priorities for improving the business environment. Six priority directions have been identified for improving the business environment and reducing bureaucracy:
- Data accumulation and reuse;
- Improvement of the construction process and related requirements;
- Improving labor management and availability;
- Reducing business costs;
- Reducing administrative burdens for merchants;
- Improvement of municipal territorial planning.
There are plans to review public administration services to reduce administrative barriers for entrepreneurs and ensure decisions are made within three working days from the moment conditions for making a final decision have been met. The new Plan also foresees investments in the development of digital solutions, including the transformation of business processes with the latest technological opportunities, especially in the public sector.