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On 1 August, Normans Penke, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with Claire Poulin, Ambassador of Canada to the Baltic states, who was on her farewell visit.
As the most significant achievements during her time of office whilst Ambassador in Latvia, Ambassador Poulin highlighted the exchanges of visits at the highest level. There was a state visit by former President Vaira Vike-Freiberga to Canada, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, in his turn, participated in the NATO Summit in Riga. Exchanges of visits between officials of Latvia and Canada are foreseen to continue. Both parties noted that the lifting of the visa requirement for Latvia by the Canadian government on 31 October 2007 has been a particularly significant step. The Canadian Ambassador underlined Latvia's contribution to Afghanistan, which is a top priority in Canada's foreign policy.
Ambassador Poulin advised that Canada wishes to expand the EU-Canada trade partnership and there will be a particular focus on this initiative at the Canada-EU Summit in Montreal on 17 October this year.
State Secretary Penke noted the positive co-operation between Latvia and Canada, drawing attention to the intensification of economic co-operation. The visa-free regime established between the countries provides a good opportunity to activate bilateral relations and the transatlantic dialogue, and also to facilitate economic co-operation and to promote people-to-people contacts.
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