U.S. Ambassador joins the President and Prime Minister to release Report on the Freeport of Riga and Sign Grant from the United States Trade Development Agency

Riga, September 11, 2006. – Tomorrow, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey joins President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, Minister of Transportation Krisjanis Peters, and Mayor of Riga Aivars Aksenoks to release a report on the Freeport of Riga. Also today, the United States Government and the Government of Latvia will sign a grant agreement to assist in developing an integrated master port security plan for Latvia’s three main ports.

In March, a group of experts from the United States met with officials from the Riga Free Port and the Riga city and Latvian governments, as part of a bilateral exchange of best practices to examine port development and to explore opportunities for economic cooperation and investment. The group included representatives of the U.S. Trade Development Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the private sector. The report released today details the results of that visit.

Following a meeting to discuss the report, Minister Peters and Ambassador Bailey will sign a grant agreement for approximately $400,000. The grant comes from the United States Trade Development Agency and will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Transportation to develop an integrated master port security plan for the Ports of Riga, Ventspils, and Liepaja. USTDA has supported a variety of port security projects around the world. Since 2001, it has provided nearly $12.5 million in grants in support of projects in this sector in fourteen countries.

Copies of the Report on the Freeport of Riga will be available at the U.S. Embassy website: http://www.usembassy.lv/.

U.S. Embassy, Riga, Public Affairs Section
Smilsu iela 7
Riga, LV 1050
Phone: 371 750-9022
Internet: www.usembassy.lv
Media specialist's e-mail: ruklisk@state.gov