On November 9, we were delighted to take part in the inaugural Baltic-Nordic BritCham Forum in Riga, bringing together representatives from British Chambers of Commerce across seven Baltic and Nordic countries alongside business leaders, policymakers and industry experts under the theme “Shared Priorities. Stronger Connections”. The full-day forum offered a chance to exchange ideas, explore shared challenges and, most importantly, build relationships across borders.
Throughout the day, panel discussions were held on defence and security, energy, the workforce of the future, and financing and resilience. The panel on defence and security highlighted how building military resilience requires stronger cooperation, shared responsibility and the active involvement of the private sector. The panel on energy stressed that the challenge is no longer simply generating energy but ensuring that it can be distributed effectively. Furthermore, greater interconnectivity and a shift from planning to implementation are needed to position the Baltic countries as important energy contributors to the wider region. The panel on the workforce of the future discussed how meaningful AI adoption requires us to rethink how we work rather than simply add new technologies to existing processes, and highligted that critical and logical thinking is becoming increasingly valuable. Finally, the panel on financing and resilience discussed how building stronger economies also requires an improved financial literacy, developed local investment expertise and ensuring that available capital is put to productive use.
The forum ended with an Q&A session, followed by a reception generously hosted by the British Embassy in Riga. Moderated by Anne-Marie Martin from the British Chambers of Commerce, the Q&A featured representatives from the seven chambers present, amongst them the BSCC Secretary General Christina Liljeström. She emphasised the need for initiatives such as the BritCham Forum and the crucial importance of being stronger together.
We extend our sincere thanks to the British Chamber of Commerce in Latvia, H.E. Kathy Leach, British Ambassador to Lativa and the team at the British Embassy in Riga for generously hosting us, the speakers, panellists and moderators for sharing their expertise and perspectives and to the fellow British Chambers of Commerce from Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Denmark for joining this inaugural forum and deepening cooperation across our Baltic-Nordic British Chamber network.
