This week, the inauguration of the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation in the Baltic states will be held in Riga and in New York.

The aim of the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation is to provide financial support to students and young professionals in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania for their professional internship in the United States companies, as well as scholarships for a continued education at the United States universities, thus enabling the young people to contribute their knowledge and experience to the growth of their home countries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to emphasise that the launching of the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation is a proof to the United States long term commitment to the development in the Baltic states, as well as a closer Baltic-U.S. co-operation.

On 21 September, the Board of the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation is to meet with the Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Andris Teikmanis and Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. The inauguration of the Foundation will also be announced at the United States General Assembly in New York, where U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Steinberg is expected to meet the Foreign Ministers of the three Baltic states, and in Riga, during the Baltic Prime Ministers meeting.

The Foundation has set up its website at www.balticamericanfreedomfoundation.org. The Foundation builds its activity upon the funding amassed by the Baltic – American Enterprise Fund, active in the Baltic states from 1994 to 2008 when the Baltic – American Enterprise Fund had successfully completed its mission undertaken in early 1990s of channelling international capital market funds toward the Baltic states.  As businesses and individuals acquired broader access to various other loan facilities, the Fund's services lost their pivotal role.