FICIL another year at the Governments table March 2014 I will - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

March 2014

FICIL – another year at the Government’s table

I will talk about:

• Our cooperation with government

– Day to day work to improve the business environment and investment climate in Latvia

• High Council this year

– Work groups. Key messages

FICIL corporate members: 29 major investors

FICIL corporate members: 29 major investors

FICIL associate members

Goals and Outputs

Goals:

• Make ourselves available to members and other

stakeholders and partners

Outputs:

• Meetings with members: 21 member visited,

special focus on visiting regions

• Electronic outreach to members: monthly

“News to Members” e-mail to members about FICIL activities (9 e-mails since April 2013)

• Meetings with other stakeholders: next slide
• Media strategy: topic based approach

– Low key; seeking to contribute to adding value [new aspect] to a discussion – Membership driven: Members, the Board believe it would be

• f value to comment (Privatisation of land in rural areas,

Maxima tragedy, waste management in Latvia, Adoption of Euro, Energy policy) – Quality not quantity: Contribute written comments to major news and Internet outlets – Reach: Always take part in high level discussions with national and international opinion leaders (WB, EU)

• Enhance our contribution to the public

debate

Other Stakeholders

FICIL

Business NGO’s Ministries EU in Latvia Embassies Chambers

• f

Commerce Parliament Research NGO’s PM office

FICIL AT THE GOVERNMENT’S TABLE

2014 IN FOCUS

2013 Position Papers

Court system efficiency

Legislative efforts supported/initiated by FICIL progress (e.g. arbitration). Transparency of court decisions and effectiveness of process increased via e-

• solutions. Court system integrated to raise

effectiveness (FICIL one of few vocal supporters) Backlogs of cases are shrinking. Out of our reach: quality of decisions and personnel.

Public procurement

Work group started to review regulation on procurement by public utilities providers. FICILs positions included in next set of amendments proposed by the PMs thematic work group of which we are an active member.

2013 Position Papers

Waste management policy

Legislative process just reached Parliament,

• ur arguments actively used by the

Competition authority. FICIL actively participates in w/g and Committee discussions in the Parliament, vocal in the public realm.

Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy for the Transportation Sector

World Bank research on ports competitiveness and governance in Latvia commissioned and carried out. Proposals for improvement of ports are being developed based on WB report, courts’ decisions, State Audit findings, and proposals submitted as input for the review of EU member states’ competitiveness

Tax and macroeconomics

Law on Governance of Publicly owned corporation heard by Parliament in the first reading, FICILs initiatives are included. Improved communication and cooperation with SRS (weakness our side due to work group capacity).

Energy sector policy

Energy sector ignores all structured policy advice, focusing on political arguments and short-term solutions. Our projections, however, have been correct.

Insolvency Law: Case Study

May 2012

November 2013 Second reading

• f the law in Saeima

Position paper on Proposals for the Improvement of the Insolvency Process First reading

• f the law in

Saeima CoM approves the amendments developed by MoJ and passes them to the Parliament

FICIL letter to the Parliament with Proposals

September 2012 November 2012

January 2013

March 2012

FICIL letter to MoJ: Proposals for the Improvement of the Insolvency Process

8 FICIL Insolvency w/g meetings 5 Meetings with partners (Bank Association, LTRK etc) 17 Meetings at the Parliamentary Committee 1 Meeting with MoJ March 2014 June 2013

HIGH COUNCIL 2014

Working towards the High Council

• 1. Justice and Courts system - position paper

The PP on Investment protection will address the key legal aspects considered before the final decision to invest or discontinue investment in a particular country. Particular focus on security of deeds and contractual relationship, security and veracity of the object of investment (e.g. shares) and certain particular issues specific to Latvia, such as closed

• corporations. As customary, we will address conceptual as well as more narrow legal issues pertaining to security of

investment: predictability of legal environment as well as specific norms in material as well as procedural law. EU funds management – follow up (2013); Procurement - follow up (2013); Construction – follow up (2010); Insolvency - follow up (2012); Education – follow up (2009&2010); SOE’s – follow up (2012); Waste management - follow up (2013); Transports and logistics - follow up (2013)

• 2. Tax and Macroeconomics – position paper

Macroeconomic paper ties in closely with other positions of FICIL and summarises, as is customary current and prospective challenges to the Latvian economy. We have taken a broad look at all major microeconomic factors, focusing on social (staring from demography to labour market) and restating the key [and lacking] aspects of governance that investors follow (such as continuation of administrative reform, political will and administrative capacity for implementing economic reforms), quality of regulation and effective mechanisms of redress.

Working towards the High Council

• 3. Health and welfare - position paper

Health PP will addresses inefficiencies of health system governance in Latvia, urging for smart vertical integration (avoiding redundancies), fostering health competition where such is meaningful, addressing need for better governance and proper change management (separating service provision from governance). The goal: accessible, fair and qualitative services for society, no double

• charges. Better and smarter management of resources. Addressing the issue of “Walking the Talk”, will focus on prevention and

primary care and investment in specialised care.

• 5. Intellectual property protection – position paper

Sound protection of IP is an essential if neglected driver for knowledge-based economy and national competitiveness. One of the key conditions required for such a goal is a fully functional system of intellectual property promotion and protection. FICIL suggests measures re improvement of existing legal framework, implementation of regulations as well as general informational effort on importance of protecting intellectual property rights whilst also addressing the need (by actively participating in EU-level work) to strive for a fair balance between rightholders and social interests in an information society.

• 4. Public and private partnership – position paper

PPP in Latvia is seen (wrongly) as by and large another source of funding public needs, often, where all else fails, as opposed to a smart choice to cut costs of day to day exploitation (minimise the cost long term) and obtain more efficient and effective result for the

• society. Lack of positive examples and trust towards private partners currently cited amongst major discouragement for decision
• makers. FICIL will address this aspect looking for and at particular needs where PPP is the most appropriate way towards quality and

economy for government, suggest way forward on how to arrive at the long-expected good example. In addition to that suggest general improvements for governance of public investment initiatives.

Walking the Talk

• Lack of leadership
• OECD
• Latvia’s EU presidency

Marianne Abib-Pech

• General Electric Company, Corporate Financial Services, Financial Planning & Analysis

Manager, Europe

• Eastman Kodak SA, European Headquarters, Digital Films and Imaging System (DFIS)

Finance Director EAMER

• General Electric Company, Global Consumer Products (GPC)
• Motorola Inc., European Headquarters, Senior Corporate Auditor
• Arthur Andersen & Co, Audit division

In 2012, Marianne decided to start a more entrepreneurial and impactful chapter in her career. She moved to Hong-Kong, was commissioned by the prestigious Financial Times to write the Leadership volume of their business series, that was published in 2013. Subsequently, she founded two companies: LeadtheFuture is an innovative leadership consulting practice. SylarCapital is a boutique financial advising platform for Mid-Cap operating in the highly strategic Energy and Mining sectors. Marianne sits on the board of several start-ups and investment funds and is a very active Angel investor. Her objective is to act as a catalyst of ideas (via the writing), businesses (via the financial advising) and of people (via the leadership practice) to contribute to the emerging of a new and better world. She is a regular contributor to the Independent, the Huffington Post and hosts a monthly alternative Investment column for Global Corporate Venturing publication.

Honorary Chairman

Stephen is a highly credentialed business recovery partner who has worked for BRS in the UK since 1989. As well as leading a number of complex and high profile corporate insolvencies and turnarounds, was one of the first PwC recovery practitioners to work in the Public Sector on turnaround assignments. He has also conducted independent business reviews into in excess of two hundred stressed and distressed businesses over the past 20 years across a wide range of industries and size of businesses from quoted companies, to co-operatives, to charities to owner managed enterprises. Following an Executive Board role for BRS in the UK, Stephen transferred to PwC in Central and Eastern Europe this year to lead and develop the business recovery

!

Candidate for the post – Stephen Oldfield (PWC) Partner Business Recovery Services (BRS) leader - Central and Eastern Europe

Mike Kubena. PWC CEO Survey

CEO, PwC Central and Eastern Europe

PwC’s Annual Global CEO Survey aims to inform and stimulate the debate on how businesses are facing today’s

• challenges. Over the years, thousands of CEOs around the

world have taken the time to share their views. For the 7th Annual Global CEO Survey, PWC conducted 1,344 interviews with CEOs in 68 countries between 9 September and 6 December 2013. Areas and conclusions: (1) Confidence. Improbable risks aren’t so improvable any more. Working in the era of stable instability (2) Concerns. Ability to cope with major negative scenarios: economic, military, technological, natural (3) Investment priorities: Effectiveness and customer base (4) Wherefrom opportunities for development? (4) Increasing role of customers (also governments?) (6) Rebuilding trust. Investing in to achieve positive results for country where investment is based, where? (7) Pondering role (and model) of leadership most appropriate for success.

The Board

• 10 board meetings (since April, 2013)
• Letters sent:

– Amendments to Insolvency law and Civil Procedure's Law; Protection of investments; Arbitration courts; Amendments to the law on Land Privatisation in Rural Areas, Construction Law, National Economy Competition Analysis Institution

• Board members participate in work groups:

– Tax – Cameron Greaves – Health System – Valts Ābols – Waste Management – Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska

• Comments and interviews in media covering issues from FICIL position papers to topicalities

THANK YOU!