At the meeting on September 29, the Government examined and approved the information report “On the development of a unified national image” drawn up on the basis of the government declaration approved on 7 May 2019. According to the report approved by the Government, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (IDAL) will continue to play a coordinating role in the work on developing the uniform national image.
In presenting the progress made in developing a unified national image, the Minister of Economics Jānis Vitenbergs emphasised that there is still no single and coordinated approach to Latvia’s external communication strategy. “More than 24 existing, unrelated brands characterising the Latvian identity have been identified resulting in an equivocal idea about our country and what we are able to offer. The introduction of a unified national image is particularly important for Latvian entrepreneurs on the international market, where the product’s country of origin and positive associations are able to contribute significantly to strengthening their competitiveness,” the Minister of Economics points out.
“On what is known about us outside the borders of the country depends to a large extent how easy or difficult it is for entrepreneurs working in Latvia to sell their goods and services on foreign markets. It also directly affects how much these companies can earn and pay in taxes. Therefore, smart investments in strengthening the image of the country always pay off not only with a growing sense of belonging to the country, but also with economic benefits,” IDAL Director Kaspars Rožkalns emphasises.
We will be working on the introduction of a national image strategy in close cooperation with social partners and state institutions, so that the messages with which they come out are unified and contribute to the international visibility of Latvia. A smaller role will be focused on specific slogans or logos, focusing more on long-term communication, which will be based on values, about which there is the least controversy in society.
Launching work on a unified national image strategy, the aim was set to develop a national brand that would help both in exports and in attraction of investment, talent and tourists. This is necessary not only for strengthening the economy but also for strengthening national self-confidence, because it is the residents of Latvia and the Latvian nationals living outside the territory of the country that are the most important messengers of the image of our country.
Earlier, IDAL was also responsible for creating an attractive image of Latvia from the point of view of promotion of exports, attracting investments and promoting Latvia as a tourism destination, but now this will also be accompanied by Latvian foreign policy, culture, historical memories, sports and other aspects related to the national image. Five discussions of experts from different sectors, involving 116 participants, were organised in the process of creating a national image value offer. In these discussions, it was crystallised that Latvia is seen as a country of creativity. The main values on which work on the national image will be based will be: connectivity as an interaction between cultures, transit, technology and people; challenges such as the ability to accomplish complex tasks quickly, effectively and globally, while the third value offer is Latvia as a testing and new opening platform, on which we can build new discoveries in the format of products or services in different niche segments.
“When creating a national image, it is important to talk about those aspects of Latvia that are interesting and topical in the world. The most vivid of these directions is creativity and the ability to adapt, which allows for accepting ever-new challenges,” K. Rožkalns says. It is therefore planned to position Latvia in international communication as a super power of creativity. During the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Latvia was one of the first in the world to create the “Yourclass” education platform, implement an “E-Parliament” solution and the “Apturi Covid” mobile app that meets personal data protection standards.
Successful implementation of the planned activities will also improve the overall economic performance of the country. Over the three-year period, by investing 4 million euro in the national image-building campaign, there are plans to raise 128 million euro in addition to the existing investment plan and to create 4500 new jobs.
By December, IDAL will prepare a marketing plan that will be coordinated with other public authorities and social partners. Image implementation activities will be started in 2021 through a marketing campaign in Latvia, popularising the values included in the strategy. In parallel, an international campaign will also be launched next year. Planned activities in the field of national image will be discussed with social partners on an annual basis involving the widest possible share of society.