The First Minister of Wales, The Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, visited Latvia on 26-27 October 2006 at the invitation of the then Latvian Economics Minister Aigars Stokenbergs.  The visit took place in parallel with a Welsh trade delegation representing 9 companies or institutions. This was Mr Morgan's second visit to Latvia, but the first since the signature in 2004 of a Memorandum of Understanding between Wales and Latvia on co-operation in the economic, social and cultural spheres. The First Minister had meetings with Foreign Minister Pabriks, President Vike-Freiberga, and a team representing the Education and Science Ministry and Latvian higher education institutions. He had dinner with Mr Stokenbergs (who had led a Latvian trade delegation to Wales in July), and attended a reception showcasing Welsh music (the bilingual rock group "Radio Luxembourg"), Welsh food and Welsh whisky, which also provided the Welsh trade delegation with excellent networking opportunities.

Welsh-Latvian education links

Education was a major focus of Mr Morgan's visit, including his meeting with the President. The First Minister and the President discussed in particular issues of bilingual education and the challenges of preserving languages.  The meeting at the Education and Science Ministry involved representatives of the Ministry itself, including those responsible for EU programmes, as well as senior representatives of the Latvian Association of Rectors, Riga Technical University and the Latvian Agricultural University. Discussion covered the importance of supplying students for the service sector and the knowledge economy, questions of vocational training, and the quality and infrastructure of higher education. The two sides also discussed the use of EU funding in education including such issues as the balance of spending between engineering and natural sciences on one side and social sciences and service-oriented training on the other. The First Minister briefed on the Welsh experience of using EU funds in the education sector, including building links between higher education and business. He also visited a school involved in an EU-funded Comenius project with a Welsh school.

The visit underlined again the value of the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding as a focus for activity, and the extent to which Welsh experience can be useful and relevant in Latvia.