William Shakespere wrote these famous lines - "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts...."
And what of nations like Latvia? What part should Latvia be playing? Forever the Infant?
Latvia stands on the stage of nations and represents the aspirations of many people all over the world past and present. Independence and freedom exists in Latvia but it is not possible to hold up Latvia as a good example of how a country gains freedom and puts it to use to add value to the world. With the Sacking of the Anti Corruption Director - Aleksejs Loskutovs - it looks like it will be many more years before Latvia will have leadership that understands that the people of the country come first and sacrifice to serve the people of Latvia is expected.
It is not just the people of Latvia that are being let down but also the people in other countries suffering under dictatorships. Other peoples dream and fight for freedom so as to provide a better environment for their children and Latvia is wasting the credibility it could have on the world stage to assist these people worldwide.
Furthermore it is the smaller countries like Latvia that can adapt faster to world conditions and find the most efficient means for economic advancement. Many larger countries look for examples of good policy in smaller countries like Sweden, Japan, Singapore and Finland. Latvia should move closer towards being an honourable country contributing to the world rather than moving towards being a Third World Nation.
29 June, 2008
Gay folk in Latvia
Today I read about Maris Sants a gay activist in Latvia leaving Latvia because he is tired from the gay rights fight in Latvia. I am not surprised about this but I am disappointed. In fact Mozaika is a very disappointing organisation as its policy is too aggressive and causes people to close off their ears and get defensive.
It is common knowledge that Frontal attacks on society using scantily clad people waving flags will stir an oppossing force very fast. I have heard that Mozaika feels that parades are the way to get a voice in Latvia to make the rights issue a topic of conversation. So instead of us all talking about how smart the gay rights movement is working to bring understanding in Latvia - we are talking about the fight between gays and the church based protesters.
Now Maris Sants is exhaused from the fight the gay movement started and his skills are lost from society. Latvia is a poorer country for not being more accepting but if the Rights Movement ignores the sensitivities of broader society then I am sure that many people in Latvia are happy to ignore the loss of Maris.
What was wrong with planting grass and flowers in the barren areas around our streets and providing a calmer value adding voice for gay folk in Latvia. Why was media content not calmly influenced and 10 or 20 year plan adopted. Too often the impatient people want it to happen today and end up taking much longer to achieve an objective that all of Latvia deserves. When you have occupied a position in society there is responsibility to do it the right way and not just your own way.
It is common knowledge that Frontal attacks on society using scantily clad people waving flags will stir an oppossing force very fast. I have heard that Mozaika feels that parades are the way to get a voice in Latvia to make the rights issue a topic of conversation. So instead of us all talking about how smart the gay rights movement is working to bring understanding in Latvia - we are talking about the fight between gays and the church based protesters.
Now Maris Sants is exhaused from the fight the gay movement started and his skills are lost from society. Latvia is a poorer country for not being more accepting but if the Rights Movement ignores the sensitivities of broader society then I am sure that many people in Latvia are happy to ignore the loss of Maris.
What was wrong with planting grass and flowers in the barren areas around our streets and providing a calmer value adding voice for gay folk in Latvia. Why was media content not calmly influenced and 10 or 20 year plan adopted. Too often the impatient people want it to happen today and end up taking much longer to achieve an objective that all of Latvia deserves. When you have occupied a position in society there is responsibility to do it the right way and not just your own way.
03 June, 2008
Soviet Comfort the easy option
I have just completed a 2800 km drive through Ukraine that seemed to be a time machine experience taking me back to 1970's Latvia. It was not what you knew but who you knew that was most important as is the residual thinking in Latvia now. There is a hell of a lot of comfort in having the phone number of someone that can clear up troubles in an instant. It makes you feel privledged and part of the exclusive club and difficult to ignore for those that like to lord it over others. But the goal in life surely is not to contribute to a fuedal society that excludes people. That causes the disenfranchised to protest in their own un democratic manner through crime and violence let alone the long term cost of an inefficient use of resources and lost opportunity for the country.
The traffic police in Ukraine are notoriously corrupt so having a well connected contact was most comforting when in the middle of nowhere. But I did take the opportunity to explore what the police had to say on the many occassions they stopped me for a random check. They would go so far as to have fake breath analysers that gave false readings, they would suggest I had taken drugs and needed to go with them for a drug test, they would show false readings on my speed, and that was just what I understood.
Needless to say that there are no self drive tourists in Ukraine attested by the fact that there is no infrustructure for them like Motels or tourist signs. Ukraine could not possibly be part of the EU whilst this treatment of westerners exists. This is what Latvia is moving away from but very slowly. There are many people in Latvia that think the progress from a Ukraine styled past has been the largest part of the journey for Latvia but almost certainly just the start point has been achieved. Only once people have stopped fighting can the Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing be achieved.
The traffic police in Ukraine are notoriously corrupt so having a well connected contact was most comforting when in the middle of nowhere. But I did take the opportunity to explore what the police had to say on the many occassions they stopped me for a random check. They would go so far as to have fake breath analysers that gave false readings, they would suggest I had taken drugs and needed to go with them for a drug test, they would show false readings on my speed, and that was just what I understood.
Needless to say that there are no self drive tourists in Ukraine attested by the fact that there is no infrustructure for them like Motels or tourist signs. Ukraine could not possibly be part of the EU whilst this treatment of westerners exists. This is what Latvia is moving away from but very slowly. There are many people in Latvia that think the progress from a Ukraine styled past has been the largest part of the journey for Latvia but almost certainly just the start point has been achieved. Only once people have stopped fighting can the Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing be achieved.
14 May, 2008
With no vision there is no trust
After 4 months it seems likely that one of my company's bank accounts will be unblocked by the Latvian tax office (VID). Imagine the pile of bills and penalty invoices I will finally be clearing off my desk. Oh the joy of doing something most people in capitalist economies take for granted. When I thought I would gain commercial happiness through intelligent business deals I was reduced to dealing with a mindless entity.
A fair punishment I am sure for those that break the law. In my case however this company has for a long time over paid tax by more than 5,000 lats. The problem started when the company registry lost my personal code and informed VID that the company is directed by someone not registered as a tax payer.
This communication is part of their standard procedure that no doubt has nothing to do with international standards like ISO 9001. I know this as I direct other companies in Latvia where my personal code is contained within the same company registry that should have provided the information they required whilst they waited for me to resubmit originals. But instead the Company Registry procedures, and many like it in Latvia, are based on the premise that the Latvian is not to be trusted. These non trustful procedures in Latvia are not ISO 9001 certified but SOL 1944 documentations of pre existing inefficient processes.
Once you get caught in a SOL 1944 there is no face you can meet as all staff are warned by their Director to not allow anyone with a problem to meet the Director and staff have no power to fix anything themselves. Correcting the fault of the organisation that made the error by paying high fees for fast processing will not make any difference once you have been reported to another authority like VID. To the organisation you are reported to you are seen as just a common criminal in conformance with the SOL 1944 premise that a Latvian is not to be trusted.
What really works in Latvia are contacts that can correct the issue fast so you don't have 4 months of hassle. Of course you pay these contacts and they are the same people that can corrupt the system and are not to be trusted.
So I must conclude that just maybe if Soviet Occupied Latvia 1944 (SOL 1944) procedures were to be replaced with ISO 9001 then the people with responsibility might not have a chance to be so corrupt and treat the public with the same distrust they see in themselves.
There is hope here because in 2007 one ISO 9001 accreditation company was the first to be registered in Latvia http://www.am.gov.lv/en/news/DomesticNews/2007/february/14-2/ . A bit of a joke there just being one accreditation company but other countries can be relied upon for accreditation just like the Latvian pilots that go to sit the easier EU compulsory English exam in Vilnius to be certified in Latvia then so will ISO 9001 fraudsters.
Maybe we have to go one step further back – Didn't I previously write about the benefits for the people of Latvia having one common optimistic vision for the future?
So if this topic ends in pessimism then why do I write it? The answer is that all the time when I meet with Non-Latvians doing business in Latvia they are frustrated at the difficulty of getting things done in Latvia. The lack of professionalism in people with government responsibility wears down the enthusiasm for doing more business in Latvia and as a result Latvia looses valuable resources that would lift the standard of living for all Latvians. When foreigners get together over a few beers/bbq and share stories it helps to indirectly alleviate the frustrations and may even enable a possible solution to be identified. In the worst case a solution may be to depart from Latvia and set up business in another country.
The patriots of Latvia come in all forms and many people that do a lot for Latvia do not have any Latvian heritage.
A fair punishment I am sure for those that break the law. In my case however this company has for a long time over paid tax by more than 5,000 lats. The problem started when the company registry lost my personal code and informed VID that the company is directed by someone not registered as a tax payer.
This communication is part of their standard procedure that no doubt has nothing to do with international standards like ISO 9001. I know this as I direct other companies in Latvia where my personal code is contained within the same company registry that should have provided the information they required whilst they waited for me to resubmit originals. But instead the Company Registry procedures, and many like it in Latvia, are based on the premise that the Latvian is not to be trusted. These non trustful procedures in Latvia are not ISO 9001 certified but SOL 1944 documentations of pre existing inefficient processes.
Once you get caught in a SOL 1944 there is no face you can meet as all staff are warned by their Director to not allow anyone with a problem to meet the Director and staff have no power to fix anything themselves. Correcting the fault of the organisation that made the error by paying high fees for fast processing will not make any difference once you have been reported to another authority like VID. To the organisation you are reported to you are seen as just a common criminal in conformance with the SOL 1944 premise that a Latvian is not to be trusted.
What really works in Latvia are contacts that can correct the issue fast so you don't have 4 months of hassle. Of course you pay these contacts and they are the same people that can corrupt the system and are not to be trusted.
So I must conclude that just maybe if Soviet Occupied Latvia 1944 (SOL 1944) procedures were to be replaced with ISO 9001 then the people with responsibility might not have a chance to be so corrupt and treat the public with the same distrust they see in themselves.
There is hope here because in 2007 one ISO 9001 accreditation company was the first to be registered in Latvia http://www.am.gov.lv/en/news/DomesticNews/2007/february/14-2/ . A bit of a joke there just being one accreditation company but other countries can be relied upon for accreditation just like the Latvian pilots that go to sit the easier EU compulsory English exam in Vilnius to be certified in Latvia then so will ISO 9001 fraudsters.
Maybe we have to go one step further back – Didn't I previously write about the benefits for the people of Latvia having one common optimistic vision for the future?
So if this topic ends in pessimism then why do I write it? The answer is that all the time when I meet with Non-Latvians doing business in Latvia they are frustrated at the difficulty of getting things done in Latvia. The lack of professionalism in people with government responsibility wears down the enthusiasm for doing more business in Latvia and as a result Latvia looses valuable resources that would lift the standard of living for all Latvians. When foreigners get together over a few beers/bbq and share stories it helps to indirectly alleviate the frustrations and may even enable a possible solution to be identified. In the worst case a solution may be to depart from Latvia and set up business in another country.
The patriots of Latvia come in all forms and many people that do a lot for Latvia do not have any Latvian heritage.
04 May, 2008
How to Beat Inflation in Latvia
Gee inflation is really making inroads in to income. Here are some tips on how to beat it.
Any software you pay a licence for is highly likely to be also available legally free of charge in an open source form. One of the better sites for searching for the type of software you require is http://www.sourceforge.net/ or TwoCows. Governments are moving away from high licencing fees as Singapore droped Microsoft in 2004 and the Nederlands is migrating to free software http://iht.com/articles/2008/03/05/business/open.php . An example of free anti virus software is http://www.avast.com/ and for free word processing compatible with all Microsoft Word documents try http://www.openoffice.org/ . Search for Key Software names like Firefox for Internet searches, Linux UBUNU as an Operating System, AVG for antivirus, ZoneAlarm for a firewall, Logmein for remote access to a computer, and ADrive for 50GB of online data storage.
If Heating costs are eating you up then think about Heat Pumps for floor heating, Thermal Solar for water heating in summer to offset your winter costs, and an ioniser pump for radiator and hot water all year round http://www.stafor.lv/ .
Work on your website to gain a higher percentage of the market. There are tools that can provide good feedback on the effectiveness of your website. AustCham Latvia can provide you a 30 page evaluation of your website.
Get a big storage tank to store farm diesel for your vehicle, Get off of bottled water, share one DSL connection with your neigbours and share the cost, AND REMEMBER THAT CASH IS KING so if you spend more now on decreasing your expenses then that is more important than calculating how many years it will take to recoup the expense - only people that think like sheep do that.
The best way to beat inflation is to start a new profitable business. The best new profitable business makes use of idle capacity in your current business or job, the second best way to start a profitable business is to replace a verticle component associated with your current business.
Any software you pay a licence for is highly likely to be also available legally free of charge in an open source form. One of the better sites for searching for the type of software you require is http://www.sourceforge.net/ or TwoCows. Governments are moving away from high licencing fees as Singapore droped Microsoft in 2004 and the Nederlands is migrating to free software http://iht.com/articles/2008/03/05/business/open.php . An example of free anti virus software is http://www.avast.com/ and for free word processing compatible with all Microsoft Word documents try http://www.openoffice.org/ . Search for Key Software names like Firefox for Internet searches, Linux UBUNU as an Operating System, AVG for antivirus, ZoneAlarm for a firewall, Logmein for remote access to a computer, and ADrive for 50GB of online data storage.
If Heating costs are eating you up then think about Heat Pumps for floor heating, Thermal Solar for water heating in summer to offset your winter costs, and an ioniser pump for radiator and hot water all year round http://www.stafor.lv/ .
Work on your website to gain a higher percentage of the market. There are tools that can provide good feedback on the effectiveness of your website. AustCham Latvia can provide you a 30 page evaluation of your website.
Get a big storage tank to store farm diesel for your vehicle, Get off of bottled water, share one DSL connection with your neigbours and share the cost, AND REMEMBER THAT CASH IS KING so if you spend more now on decreasing your expenses then that is more important than calculating how many years it will take to recoup the expense - only people that think like sheep do that.
The best way to beat inflation is to start a new profitable business. The best new profitable business makes use of idle capacity in your current business or job, the second best way to start a profitable business is to replace a verticle component associated with your current business.
28 April, 2008
Latvia at the Centre of Europe
Australian Trade with Europe is around 30Billion Lats a year but trade with Latvia barely touches 1 million Lats. Australia exports over 10% of goods to Europe (mainly Germany and UK) and imports around 25% from Europe.
It is the intention of Austcham Latvia to enable Latvia to increase trade with Australia. The second step in this process has been the establishment of the Australian Chambers of Commerce blog. http://australiancommerce.blogspot.com/
The new Blog attempts to coordinate Australian resources located internationally and within Australia. The proactive Australian Chambers of Commerce worldwide that participate in the new blog will communicate with australian businesses to attract them to their country and encourage Australian business involvement with multiple countries.
This initiative will take time to gain enough participation to be effective. Dean Strautins of AustCham Latvia will self fund promotion to achieve the critical mass of participation.
It is the intention of Austcham Latvia to enable Latvia to increase trade with Australia. The second step in this process has been the establishment of the Australian Chambers of Commerce blog. http://australiancommerce.blogspot.com/
The new Blog attempts to coordinate Australian resources located internationally and within Australia. The proactive Australian Chambers of Commerce worldwide that participate in the new blog will communicate with australian businesses to attract them to their country and encourage Australian business involvement with multiple countries.
This initiative will take time to gain enough participation to be effective. Dean Strautins of AustCham Latvia will self fund promotion to achieve the critical mass of participation.
13 April, 2008
Sustainable Economic Growth in Latvia
This Blog so far has topics that continue to point out the lack of leadership in Latvia. From the Post Office to the President of Latvia there seems to be a lack of purpose for everyday activities in Latvia. Considering that the Latvian economy's growth has been credit based and not export orientated then the leadership in Latvia is violently silent.
Too many people in Latvia do not seem to have a reason to live their life to a high standard or even a standard expected as a based level in many other countries. People have either had an easy ride taking credit or they have been left behind economically. The result being - participation from the employee sector is not orientated towards a common goal for the country.
This blog could be filled with many examples of incompetence as a result of a lack of professionalism. In fact in Latvia it is not just that people do not perform as expected in their position, they actually put effort in protecting and disguising their lack of ability to perform.
So in an attempt to push the Leadership requirement to a new level I attended a Conference on Sustainability at the Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration (RISEBA).
The conference had attendees from 11 countries and as usual there were the professors that drilled in to symptoms on the economics ills in Latvia. If these many symptoms get listed and sent to the different political parties then sure enough they will be to long and complicated to be understood.
My suggestion is to keep the list of symptoms for education institution interaction with the business community to together find solutions. The Cause of these symptoms is lack of leadership resulting in under utilisation of the resources in Latvia and the resources freely available to Latvia.
With no direction and overt corruption from the Leadership the future of Latvia is being wasted and their tenure has become one of occupation at a departmental level. So that a higher standard of living can be achieved for the people of Latvia the removal of Soviet Occupation was only a first step as the soviet mentality still exists. The required change is either within the minds of the current leaders or in the minds of their replacements.
Applying processes and recruiting many relevant people to a goal of economic advancement is the easiest way to subtly change the mindset from selfishness to self-fulfillment. Having business make demands and put pressure in many hundreds of areas will cause a profound change in the ethics of the people. The leadership must lead the way otherwise there will be no confidence that the goal is realistic. Business will use the market mechanisms to be the change agent for Latvia. Leadership is not required to drill down in to detail as that should be the responsibility of the Education Cluster and Business Cluster.
The flow chart below shows the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia's suggestion for improving the economic situation in Latvia. In addition to what is written above there is the International Resources segment where Retired professionals are attracted to Latvia to contribute to the goal.
Too many people in Latvia do not seem to have a reason to live their life to a high standard or even a standard expected as a based level in many other countries. People have either had an easy ride taking credit or they have been left behind economically. The result being - participation from the employee sector is not orientated towards a common goal for the country.
This blog could be filled with many examples of incompetence as a result of a lack of professionalism. In fact in Latvia it is not just that people do not perform as expected in their position, they actually put effort in protecting and disguising their lack of ability to perform.
So in an attempt to push the Leadership requirement to a new level I attended a Conference on Sustainability at the Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration (RISEBA).
The conference had attendees from 11 countries and as usual there were the professors that drilled in to symptoms on the economics ills in Latvia. If these many symptoms get listed and sent to the different political parties then sure enough they will be to long and complicated to be understood.
My suggestion is to keep the list of symptoms for education institution interaction with the business community to together find solutions. The Cause of these symptoms is lack of leadership resulting in under utilisation of the resources in Latvia and the resources freely available to Latvia.
With no direction and overt corruption from the Leadership the future of Latvia is being wasted and their tenure has become one of occupation at a departmental level. So that a higher standard of living can be achieved for the people of Latvia the removal of Soviet Occupation was only a first step as the soviet mentality still exists. The required change is either within the minds of the current leaders or in the minds of their replacements.
Applying processes and recruiting many relevant people to a goal of economic advancement is the easiest way to subtly change the mindset from selfishness to self-fulfillment. Having business make demands and put pressure in many hundreds of areas will cause a profound change in the ethics of the people. The leadership must lead the way otherwise there will be no confidence that the goal is realistic. Business will use the market mechanisms to be the change agent for Latvia. Leadership is not required to drill down in to detail as that should be the responsibility of the Education Cluster and Business Cluster.
The flow chart below shows the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia's suggestion for improving the economic situation in Latvia. In addition to what is written above there is the International Resources segment where Retired professionals are attracted to Latvia to contribute to the goal.
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