On 7 January 2020, the Minister of Economics Ralfs Nemiro appointed Kaspars Rožkals as Director of SA “Investment and Development Agency of Latvia” (IDAL). Mr Rožkalns will start performing duties of the Director of IDAL on 20 January 2020.
“One of the most important tasks of the Director of IDAL will be to find solutions to boost Latvia’s international competitiveness. Together with business organisations and social partners, we have identified areas where improvements would be needed to boost innovation and productivity, promote exports and attract investment. I look forward to drawing up and implementing a specific plan from the Director of IDAL to improve Latvia’s economy at international level and ensure sustainable growth. In the long term, it will also improve the living standards of the population,” the Minister of Economics said after meeting the new Director of IDAL.
Kaspars Rožkalns has put the support of knowledge-based companies as one of his priorities in his new position, thereby promoting Latvia’s international competitiveness and visibility. In the future, he would like to develop IDAL into an open, transparent and proactive one-stop shop for entrepreneurs.
Mr Rožkalns has a master’s degree in Business Management. He has been working at IDAL for the last 5 years leading the Latvian External Economic Representations in Germany and China. The main responsibilities involved promoting the image of the country, attracting investment and supporting exports. Before that, Mr Rožkalns managed a company in the private sector.
Kaspars Rožkals has been appointed Director of IDAL for a period of 5 years.
The competition for the Director of IDAL was organised by the State Chancellery.
IDAL is a direct regulatory authority supervised by the Minister of Economics. The purpose of its operations is to promote the competitiveness and export capacity of Latvian companies in international markets, to promote the increase in foreign investment volume, to implement the tourism development state policy and state policy in the field of innovation.