INTERREG FEM Seminar in Sigulda July, , 2007 Latvia coordinator: Baiba Rivža

WP 1  6 Resource centrs in: Jelgava; Bauska; Cēsis; Talsi; Ludza; Preiļi;  17 Meeting places: Liepāja; Ventspils; Tukums; Limbaži; Valmiera; Gulbene; Madona; Alūksne; Balvi; Krāslava; Daugavpils Jēkabpils Aizkraukle; Dobele; Rēzekne; Valka; Saldus.

WP 1  RC and MP started to work as closely connected net  RC advisor/consulter groups are additionally recruited with new members (in business organization, accountancy, legislation, project writing, e-commerce, NGO organization, home-craft).  10 persons from Latvia (RC leaders, WP leaders and mentors) participates in transnational meeting in Poland (2007)  Meetings with Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Education - information of activities in FEM project and needed support.  Manual for practical work

Young entrepreneurs advisors in the Resource centers RegionCraft Project design Micro creditMentoring Consulting in E- commerceTotal Zemgale Vidzeme Kurzeme Latgale Total: WP 1:

WP 2  Creation of database of women - existing and potential entrepreneurs.  Creation of joint strategy and action plan in Latvia  Creation the concept of the project Web-page  Organization national seminars in Riga and educational seminars in Latvia for near 4000 entrepreneurs  Participation in meetings with other WP coordinators and project leaders in Latvia  Latvian entrepreneur take place in international expo INTERTEXTIL Balticum 2007  Dissemination of information in near 20 different meetings  Meeting with minister of economic J. Strods, secretary of state D. Lucaua, authority of LHZB bank V. Pučka

WP 3  Developed questionnaires and selected Mentees and Mentors on the basis of questionnaires in the Zemgale, Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale regions;  Created data basis of existing and potential mentors;  Collected and analyzed 100 questionnaires of existing and potential Mentees and 60 questionnaires of existing and potential Mentors of all regions of Latvia – Zemgale, Vidzeme, Kurzeme, Latgale;  Formed 21 mentoring pairs and 3 groups  Regular meetings, common seminars, consultancies and support (about 15 mentoring seminars in all regions);  Training in mentoring and different branches connected with entrepreneurship (management, legislation, communication, finances, etc.);  Monitoring and evaluation of results of mentoring cooperation (interviews with 10 mentors 15 and mentees)

WP 3  4 FEM Mentors of the event “Mentor of the Year 2006” received rewards (Nelda Bailīte, Zeltīte Kaviere, Eleonora Maisaka, Vija Ancāne); 2 Mentors of of the event “Mentor of the Year 2007” received awards – Astrīda Vītola – mentor for micro-credit group in Iecava and Inara Vasilevska – pair mentor in Preili (Latgale region);  Developed mentoring manual;  Information providing for TV, other mass media (near 30 publications in newspapers)  6 scientific articles and 12 presentations in seminars and international conferences in Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Poland, etc.  Mentoring is included in the National plan for development of Latvia for the years – 2013 as one of the priorities in creating new competitive enterprises, creation of unite and efficient support system for business launching (mentor consultations, finance supporting – “first seed grants", net supporting, seed grants, micro credits, investments guarantees, risk capital funding, resource centers etc.).

Mentoring RegionMentorsMentees Zemgale1117 Vidzeme69 Kurzeme33 Latgale33 Total:2332 WP 3:

Mentor Nelda Bailīte received award „Mentor of the Year” from association „Līdere”, December, 2005

Project coordinator professor Baiba Rivza in mentoring seminar in Skulte, summer 2006.

WP 4  Established 31 new microcredit group (99 women) in 17 of 26 administrative districts and 10 (38 women) are in the last stage of preparing; established data base about these groups  Organized almost 100 microcredit seminars Latgale, Zemgale, Vidzeme, Kurzeme regions  Organized meetings with leaders others WP  Consultations about microcredit and business plan (~90 women)  Networking groups leaders training (~80 women)  Information in newspapers, in Radio company and TV 3 company about FEM project activities  Organized meetings with business women and NGO  Cooperation with 5 countries –Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden  Meetings with banks, municipalities, with ministries and president  Established new foundation –“Women’s entrepreneur support foundation”  Participation in transnational meetings (the last one in Poland (2007)

Total: 137 women are involved in microcredit groups14 Microcredit RegionGroupsParticipants Zemgale1658 Vidzeme1340 Kurzeme412 Latgale825 Total:41137 WP 4:

WP 5  Creation the national database of women - entrepreneurs in Latvia based on Latvia Rural Women Association (LLSA) web page: list of entrepreneurs with photos of their products.  Information in international web page: presentations of women entrepreneurs of Latvia, new contacts and development skills for internationalization for participants of WP 5  Educational seminars about starting and developing of entrepreneurship, marketing, e-commerce, international contacts etc. for women: more than 30 seminars in Latvia with about 650 participants.  Network with other WP on national and international level: meetings with leaders of other WP, contacts by and phone, workshops.  Participation in national and transnational meetings.  Preparing and publishing book “Business of Rural Crafstmen in Latvia” with 120 pages in 4 languages: Latvian, English, German and Russian.  Dissemination of information in 30 local newspapers all over of the Latvia, national and regional TV, different national, local and international meetings.  Training for starting marketing and e-trade – attended by 195 women  Summary of women’s experience participated in the project (by questionnaires in the internet)  Final report for the future concerning women’s business internationalisation

Summary In all regions of Latvia:  6 Resource centers  17 Meeting places  41 microcredit groups  21 mentoring pairs/3 groups

Information materials

Thank You for attention!