To some extent, this is an unusual budget because for the first time it was submitted to the Saeima along with a three-year budget framework, said Jānis Reirs, Chairman of the Budget and Finance (Taxation) Committee, on Tuesday, 9 October, as consideration of budget began in the Saeima. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis also took part in the committee meeting.

“In comparison to other countries, Latvia has achieved good results with regard to equal rights and equal representation for women. In our country, women are successful in politics, business, academia, as well as other areas significant for national development,” said Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Thursday, 4 October, while chairing the session on gender equality in parliaments held within the framework of the Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliaments taking place in New Delhi, the capital of India.

On Friday, 28 September, when Andris Vilks, Minister for Finance, handed over the briefcase containing the draft state budget for 2013, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, emphasised that this state budget attests to our financial independence because it was not drafted under supervision of international lenders. It is also the first budget of growth since the crisis began   because we have achieved growth indicators which international lenders expected Latvia to reach only in 2017.

On Friday, 28 September, Hendrik Gerrit Cornelis van den Dool, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Latvia, was welcomed by Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on his first visit to the Saeima. During the meeting, Solvita Āboltiņa called on the Dutch Ambassador to support Latvia’s accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Both parties also discussed the enlargement of the euro area.

On Friday, 28 September, the Saeima organised the traditional Open Door Day, which attracted almost 2,000 visitors who were keen to wander the halls of the main building of the Saeima, learn about the interior design and explore its history. They were also offered an opportunity to learn more about parliamentary work and civic participation.

On Friday, 28 September, the Joint Judging Committee convened in the Saeima to evaluate nominees for the Baltic Assembly Prizes, and it unanimously decided to award this year’s Prize for Literature to Aivars Kļavis for his tetralogy On the Other Side of the Gate (Viņpus vārtiem).

On Wednesday, 26 September, the outline for Latvia’s priorities during its presidency of the Council of the European Union was presented at the Saeima. Žaneta Ozoliņa, Professor at the University of Latvia, and Inga Skujiņa, Head of the Presedency Secretariat, informed the Steering Committee for planning the parliematery dimension of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union about the conclusions drawn from the ten thematic discussions held earlier this year.

“In the 21st century, distance does not matter; what matters is mutual interest in establishing relations, willingness to look for cooperation partners and implement new projects. Considering Uzbekistan as a strong cooperation partner in the fields of transport, transit and logistics, I would like to acknowledge that Latvian entrepreneurs’ interest in developing new economic relations has remained high even after the economic crisis. Taking into account the growth capacity of both countries, the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the future is great,” stressed Andrejs Klementjevs, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, on Wednesday, 26 September, during the meeting with Elyor Ganiev, Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan.