Benchmark Study 1

IPP 1st BENCHMARK REPORT
by international brands who have been introducing these items into their collections for many years.
The industry is also supported by several education institutions: the Riga School of Arts and Crafts,
Latvian Academy of Arts and the Textiles Faculty of Riga Technical University, as well as the Light
Industry Technical School and other vocational education institutions.
Cooperation opportunities:
o Numerous Latvian companies are seeking partners for sub-contracting activities in the sewing subsector.
o Lingerie manufacturers are looking for distribution partners, sales representatives and agents.
The sector has seen significant investment in Technologies and equipment, especially in the period
2000-2007. Textile and garment companies continuously update and replace their equipment in
order to be productive, cost-efficient and thereby competitive. FDI stock at end of 2009 in the textile
industry reached EUR 15.9 million.
Energy
Latvia stands among those countries that are dependent from imported energy resources (Picture 3).
The most significant utilized local energy sources are wood and hydro energy (Daugava HPP cascade).
Solid fuel, oil products and electrical energy are imported from several countries and supply regions but
for natural gas there is only one supplier – Russia. The split of energy flows shows the relatively high
dependence from energy import – only 29.6% of total energy consumption is covered by local
energy resources. In the same time Latvia has one of the highest share of renewable energy in
the EU, due mainly to the significant role of hydropower resources and the large amount of biomass
used in the residential sector. It has significant forest resources, which contribute to it being a net
exporter of biomass for energy.
Electricity Supply is dominated
by state JSC “Latvenergo” that
generates more than 88% of all
electricity generated in Latvia and
ensures the importation of
electricity, its distribution and
supply to consumers.
At present, JSC “Latvijas Gāze” is the only merchant in the natural gas market in Latvia. In compliance
with licenses issued by the Public Utilities Commission, JSC “Latvijas Gāze” carries out the
transmission, distribution, storage and sale of natural gas. Approximately 70 companies compete in the
supply of liquefied petroleum gas.
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