Engineering and metalworking historically has been one of the leading industrial sectors in Latvia. Nowadays, it has evolved and progressed into a very competitive, innovative, and productive industry. 

Let's add some key advantages! The first things that come to our mind is a skilled and cost-efficient workforce, strong R&D capability, and here comes the big one — our geographical location, meaning access to metal supplies from Russia and markets in the West. 

Main subsectors

Fabricated metal products, tool production, machinery and equipment, electrical engineering, shipbuilding, transport equipment, motor vehicles, trailers, telecom, and fiber optics

Fast facts

• Latvia is located between East and West and has access to large markets. This result in almost 70% of the total output exported to other countries (2020).
• Some say that statistics are dull, but we say - statistics bring clarity! Our metalworking industry is highly demanded, with the main export markets being Denmark (14%), Sweden (13%), Russia (11%) and Germany (10%). And by highly-demanded, we mean that exports reached 1.17 billion euros in 2020.
• Through taking pride in its historical legacy and traditions, the modern engineering and metalworking industry provides and uses immense innovation and R&D opportunities. 

Industry statistics

• This industry is as hard as steel both directly and figuratively. But it would not be like that without a skilled and motivated workforce. We counted that 21% of people in manufacturing are working in metalworking, machinery, and electronics. The industry contributed 21% of the total export in the manufacturing industry in Latvia. It also had an 19% turnover in this sector (2020).
• Not all good things have to be expensive. Latvia has one of the most competitive labour forces in the metal article, machinery, and equipment production in CEE countries in wage adjusted productivity.
• Don't be afraid that your wise ideas will be lost in translation, as our managers are at least trilingual (Latvian, Russian, and English). If you crave more linguistic excellence, you will be happy to know that many managers also possess German or Scandinavian language skills.

Employment and education

• Emerging professionals in the engineering and metalworking industry have to be decisive, as they have to choose from many educational opportunities. There are 21 educational institutions of different levels to prepare industry specialists. The educational system provides modernisation, much appreciated by international companies and foreign investors.
• Did you know that Riga Technical University (RTU) is the oldest technical university in the Baltics, established in 1862? RTU is the main university in Latvia, focusing on mechanics and engineering. 
• Also, RTU is the largest Latvian university by the number of students - 14 006. It is truly appreciated in many countries of the world, as almost 1920 of them are mobile students.

Industry leaders

• East Metal has over 40,000 m2 of production space at its disposal, divided into four plants in Latvia and Denmark. East Metal excels as a reliable partner in handling projects of complex steel structures and components. It also has manufacturing projects for the wind energy sector, transport equipment, cranes, and lifting gear, and it produces machinery and machine parts for the manufacturing industry.
• Jensen Metal excels in supplying quality components, machines, and the entire systems in steel, stainless steel, and aluminium. The company has shown excellent growth rates in Latvia that have encouraged them to open a new black steel manufacturing plant. It exports almost all of the manufactured products to Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and the USA.
• SAF Tehnika has achieved excellence in modern wireless data transmission technologies and is one of the world’s leading producers of microwave point-to-point radios and field-optimized portable spectrum analyzers. The company exports 99% of the production to more than 130 countries worldwide.
• HansaMatrix is one of the leading Nordic and Baltic electronic system development and manufacturing companies serving the leading OEMs in their respective markets such as industrial, transportation, telecom, renewable energy, medical, and defence industries. HansaMatrix operates an Optical and Liquid Crystal Display system manufacturing facility in Latvia and provides its customers with world-class, cutting-edge, market-leading products.
• Mikrotik provides hardware and software for Internet connectivity in most countries worldwide, and is even present in Mount Everest and used for travels to Mars. World Intellectual Property Organization has awarded MikroTik with WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy for innovative use of the IP system by the enterprise and successful corporate strategies for promoting respect for IP.