“Europe’s smaller businesses are the backbone of our economy. They have suffered most during this crisis, many losing 80% of turnover in the last few months. We are doing our best to help them: by making sure that they have enough liquidity, retain productive capacity and keep their workers employed. That commitment continues as we emerge from this crisis and begin to rebuild the EU economy. Smaller businesses will play a key part in this recovery. But there are outstanding issues we need to address, and urgently: cutting red tape, making it easier for them to access finance and helping them to develop the right skills for their workers – especially digital skills,” in the opening speech stressed Valdis Dombrovskis. The full speech is posted here

"This is our first online conference with participants from all over the world - and I am very happy to see that it worked out well and with lively discussions. Even so, I do hope that I will able to welcome them in Riga next year," SSE Riga Rector Anders Paalzow pointed out. For the second consecutive year, the conference from the SSE Riga side was led by Professor Anete Pajuste.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the event and adapted quickly to this year’s online format!