He said that Latvia's capital investments in foreign countries and the general tendency is quite poor.
Lithuania, on the other hand, is potent in investing in foreign countries, for example, Lithuania has purchased several Spanish, Italian and Polish enterprises. Krols explained that this situation is connected with the capital base that a lot of Lithuanian business owners and companies hold. Compared to Latvia, Lithuania is much stronger in its industrial investments, which have become more stable within the local market and are used for purchasing other companies which are less successful, but can be improved via effective process and method modernization.
Such industrial groups and investment groups are practically non-existent in Latvia, Krols said. In Lithuania, these groups emerged during the time period of 20 years, when business owners re-invested their profits and the companies kept growing. "At the moment, we see no such companies or company groups in Latvia," Krols said. As an example, he mentioned the UPB Holding Group, which has made investments in foreign countries.
Asked whether Latvia is able to facilitate the development of such companies, Krols said that business owners have to hold business ideas and services that can be exported abroad.
