Meeting of Ports from Latvia, Lübeck, and Hamburg in Riga

A delegation of nearly 30 members, led by Pia Steinrücke, Senator for Economic Affairs and Social Affairs of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, and Niels Wiecker, Head of the Port and Logistics Department of the Authority for Economic Affairs and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, traveled to Riga last week. The goal: to further intensify the partnership that has developed over the years among the players in the port, transport, and logistics sectors from the two regions and countries.

(Lübeck/Hamburg/Riga) The highlight of the delegation’s trip was the Latvian-German Port Forum, which took place on July 11 at the invitation of Latvian Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens. This format was established for the first time last year and takes place in close cooperation with the Lübeck Port Company (LHG), Port Hamburg Marketing (HHM), and the Latvian Ministry of Transport, supported by the Latvian ports of Riga, Ventspils, and Liepāja.

“Closer cooperation with German ports is an important building block for the realignment of the Latvian transport and logistics sector. Our ports have a centuries-old collaboration that provides a solid foundation for further development,” said Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens. “I am pleased that there is mutual interest in expanding cooperation and that the economy is continuing the dialogue after the Port Days in Hamburg in May with our meeting in Riga.”

Briškens outlined five priorities that should contribute to the realignment of the Latvian transport and logistics sector away from Russian freight: jointly developed cargo flows and investments, increased Latvian exports and expansion of inland traffic, promoting industrial development in the ports and their special economic zones, as well as accelerated projects for renewable energies – and not least the creation of new military mobility on NATO’s eastern flank.

LHG Managing Director Sebastian Jürgens emphasized in his keynote: “Our traffic with Latvia has developed excellently. This is particularly gratifying for the LHG, as traffic with Russia has collapsed since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.” Thus, the weekly departures between Lübeck and the Latvian port of Liepāja have doubled from three to six between 2016 and today.

Latvia as a Logistics Hub of the Baltic Sea

Latvia has developed into a central logistics hub of the Baltic Sea within a few years: “The share of logistics in the overall economic performance in Latvia is around ten percent; in the EU, this figure is only about five percent,” explained Jürgens. This shows the great importance of Latvia for the port location Lübeck and thus also for the LHG.

Senator Pia Steinrücke sees “great potential in deepening cooperation, which both sides would like to utilize. For me, it is important that both sides learn from each other. I found it very impressive that the Latvian economy is so interested and present.” This shows the significance of this cooperation for the country and how important this collaboration is for the people here. Her conclusion: “We need to come even closer together and send a strong signal to strengthen the partnership with Latvia. We will now discuss this in Lübeck.”

For Marina Basso Michael, Regional Director Europe at HHM, the event served “as an excellent platform to strengthen the existing relationships between Latvian and German players in the port industry and to explore new business opportunities arising from the dynamic German-Latvian trade partnership.”

“Memorandum of Cooperation” to Expand Connections between Lübeck and Latvia

With the visit to Riga, Lübeck and Hamburg continued the port forum, which was initiated by the LHG for the first time last year in Lübeck with the participation of the then Latvian President Egils Levits. In the “Memorandum of Cooperation” signed by the Liepāja Special Economic Zone Authority, the LHG, and the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, the partners commit to further expanding the connections between Lübeck and Latvia while also making them more ecologically sustainable. To this end, the Lübeck partners are working on the development of a “Green Shipping Corridor.” This is associated with a variety of concretely defined individual projects.

Photo: © Port of Riga / Caption: At the Port of Riga, here on the icebreaker “Varma,” the German delegation from Lübeck and Hamburg met with business partners and representatives of the Latvian ports