Development

Liepaja is a city successfully combining manufacturing traditions, an ice-free port, great intellectual potential and rich historical and cultural heritage. The recent years have marked development of the city – it has become tidier, new public facilities have been opened, local community takes pride in their city and its future.

The economic development of Liepaja is based on traditional industrial infrastructure, adding the possibilities of port. The largest amount of foreign investments has been made in industry – 69% of the total investment has been made in metal production, 11% - in textile production. Investments have also been made in trade (4%) and construction (5%).

Another indicator of development is the volume of construction. In 2003 it has been 23.3 million lats compared to 4.2 million lats in 1995. Increase in the construction volume has been especially high in the port. Construction of new modern terminals and port dredging has increased the competitiveness of Liepaja port, the results of which can be seen already now – the increase in port cargo turnover reached 33.1% in 2003.

Liepaja has many tools for development and one of the most promising is Liepaja Special Economic Zone, which offers to start up new way of business on good conditions. 

In order to facilitate rapid and targeted development of the city Liepaja City Council has approved Liepaja City Social and Economic Development Plan consisting of three documents:

• City Development Priorities
• Overview of the Current Situation
• City Development Strategy (2002 - 2010)

The overall objectives of Liepaja City Development Strategy:

• to facilitate the prosperity of the city and its inhabitants
• to provide preconditions for sustainable and balanced development of the city
• to ensure city’s competitiveness and European integration
• to achieve diversified economic development
• to provide a welcoming and secure environment for business and community

Three development directions have been identified for reaching these objectives:

• Development of productive sector
• Development of city infrastructure
• Development of human resources

• Report on execution of socio-economic development plan of the citi of Liepāja 2002-04 (pdf 244 KB)