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At the Techritory 2025 Forum held in Riga on 22 and 23 October 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, had a discussion with the Vice-President and Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, on preconditions for the European Union to become more competitive on a global scale.
The officials participated in a discussion on Tech, Trade, and Tensions: The Role of Digital Technologies in Times of Global Power Struggles.
Henna Virkkunen praised Latvia’s outstanding achievements in innovation, 5/6G, drone, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies. The officials agreed that it is necessary to accelerate reform so that the EU becomes more competitive – less bureaucratic, more efficient and more attractive – both for European entrepreneurs and businesses from other continents. She also pointed out that the streamlining of processes, reduction of bureaucracy and simplification of regulations must be undertaken at both the EU and national level – in EU Member States.
The officials agreed that reforms are needed everywhere, but most of all by small businesses – start-ups and innovation companies, whose ecosystems and technologies are developing rapidly and are associated with a high degree of daring and risk. In the European Union, the small and medium-sized companies prevail.
Baiba Braže underlined that it is crucial to streamline and simplify procurement processes: “Our common goal is to increase the competitiveness of companies through research and innovation and ensure a faster and more efficient access to funding. Currently, procurement processes are disproportionately time-consuming and bureaucratic. This is also confirmed by the experience of several Latvian companies that have successfully won tenders and been able to attract EU funds. In the current geopolitical situation, we can no longer afford such a setup – just like in the security sector and in the context of developing the EU’s defence industry, we must be able to find solutions for procurements to be carried out faster, in a centralized manner, saving both time and human and financial resources.”
Baiba Braže also emphasized that the commercialization of innovations – the transfer of inventions to the business sector – most be promoted more and faster. Often a commercialization process does take place, but not in Europe, while it is in our interests to prevent the outflow of innovations and successful start-ups from Europe.
Henna Virkkunen met with researchers from Riga Technical University, visited the Optical Fiber and Transmission Systems Laboratory and had a meeting with scientists at the Science Innovation Center.
The participants of the Techritory 2025 forum included high-ranking officials – the Secretary-General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, the Assistant Secretary General for Cyber and Digital Transformation at NATO, Jean Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, the Managing Director of the World Governments Summit Organization, Mohamed Alsharhan, and others.
For the eighth consecutive year, the Techritory forum has brought together prominent experts, entrepreneurs, policymakers, members of the academic sector and other leaders of the innovation and technology industries in Latvia.
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