Agenda – Latvian American Chamber of Commerce

Spotlight Latvia – Boston
SEPTEMBER 21 – 22, 2023

Thursday, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Business Lunch Organized by LIAA (details TBD)

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

LACC Annual Member Meeting + Board Elections

Bostonas Trimdas Draudze
58 Irving Street, Brookline, MA 02445-7742

5:00 PM

LACC/Spotlight Social Event

Bostonas Trimdas Draudze
58 Irving Street, Brookline, MA 02445-7742

Friday, SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
AT THE WESTIN WALTHAM, WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

	8:00 AM	Registration Opens
	8:00 AM – 9:00 AM	Coffee & Light Breakfast
	8:30 AM – 9:30 AM	Opening Remarks Lauris Lambergs, CIMA, GFP (Co-President, Latvian American Chamber of Commerce) Edgars Rinkēvičs (President of Latvia) Krišjānis Kariņš, PhD (Foreign Minister of Latvia) Christopher Robinson (U.S. Ambassador to Latvia) Mārtiņš Andersons (President, The American Latvian Association) Peteris Blumbergs (Chair, World Federation of Free Latvians)
	9:30 AM – 9:45 AM	Coffee & Networking Break
	9:45 AM – 10:45 AM	General Session I: Introduction to (Business) Latvia Moderator: Lauris Lambergs, CIMA, GFP (Co-President, Latvian American Chamber of Commerce) Panelists: Kaspars Rožkalns (Director, Latvian Investment and Development Agency) Mārtiņš Andersons (President, The American Latvian Association) Fredis Bikovs (Managing Director, Riga Investment and Tourism Agency) Samanta Budrecka (Senior Expert, Latvian Ministry of Economics) Liene Briede (Vice Rector for Innovation, Riga Technical University)
	10:45 AM – 11:45 AM	CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION I: Better Fostering Human Capital in STEM Moderator: Dean Ramos (Economist, Applied Materials) Panelists: Mārīte Seile (Council Member, University of Latvia) Artūrs Zeps, PhD (Vice Rector, Riga Technical University) Anjali Sastry, PhD (Director of J-WEL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Paul Pedini (Senior Vice President, Skanska USA) Marcis Auziņš, PhD (Professor, University of Latvia) How Latvia is Revolutionizing Personalized Medicine Moderator: Claudio Rivera (Director of the RTU RBS MIT J-WEL Project, Riga Business School) Panelists: Agrita Kiopa, PhD (Vice Rector, Riga’s Stradiņi University) Dr. Valts Ābols (Chief Executive Officer, Children’s University Hospital Latvia) Tālis Juhna, PhD (Professor, Riga Technical University) Dr. Andrejs Erglis (Chief of Latvian Centre of Cardiology at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital) John Tully (President, AmCham; CEO, MikroTik)
	11:45 AM – 12:15 PM	Coffee & Networking Break
	12:15 PM – 1:00 PM	Keynote Speakers: Alex Saltonstall (CEO, Printful) Dr. Kristaps Zariņš (Founder, HeartFlow, Inc. & Chidester Professor of Surgery, Emeritus, Stanford University)
	1:00 PM – 1:45 PM	Sit-Down Lunch & Networking Break
	1:45 PM – 2:45 PM	CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION II: Big Data in BioMedicine Moderator: Kristine Vainovska Twidwell (Latvian American Chamber of Commerce) Panelists: Sandis Kondrats (CEO, Exonicus R&D) Agnis Jakubovics (Chairman of the Board, Apply IT) Dr. Kristaps Zariņš (Founder, HeartFlow, Inc. & Chidester Professor of Surgery, Emeritus, Stanford University) Aiga Balode (Deputy State Secretary, Latvian Health Ministry) BioEconomics Moderator: Līga Rozentāle (Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Climate and Energy) Panelists: Jānis Bergs (President, SAF Tehnika North America) Paul Seitz (Chief Executive Officer, Skaal) Edgars Kerijs (President, Riga Wood North America) Mikus Kins (Founding Partner, Confluence Cannabis) Aigars Laizāns, PhD (Supervisory Board Member, Latvenergo)
	2:45 PM – 3:15 PM	Coffee & Networking Break
	3:15 PM – 4:15 PM	CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION III: Synergizing Growth via Joint Market Access in Pharma Moderator: Linda Litina (Director of Business Development, JSC Olainfarm) Panelists: Vadims Ķīsis (Head of Medicine and Clinical Research Department, Olainfarm AS) Gvido Cebers, PhD (Global Head of Drug Safety & Evaluation, Takeda) Brian Toohey (Vice President, Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, Illumina) Kristaps Jaudzems (Professor, University of Latvia) Riga as a Shared Service Center Moderator: Linda Helmane (Executive Director, Foreign Investors Council in Latvia) Panelists: Fredis Bikovs (Managing Director, Invest Riga) Zanda Arnava (CEO, Accenture Baltics) Kaspars Losāns (Medical Director, Roche) Zane Čulkstena (Founder, ERDA)
	4:15 pM – 4:30 PM	Coffee & Networking Break
	4:30 PM – 5:30 PM	General Session II: Turbocharging Entrepreneurship in Latvia Moderator: Karina Sotnik (Founder, CEO World Upstart) Panelists: Zane Čulkstena (Founder, ERDA) Anna Andersone (Riga Tech Girls) Raimonds Kulbergs (BADideas) Raimonds Lapiņš (Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Economics)
	5:30 PM – 6:00 PM	Keynote: Nils Melngailis (Chairman of Luminor Bank) Conclusion and Call to Action Lauris Lambergs, CIMA, GFP (Co-President, Latvian American Chamber of Commerce)
	6:00 PM – 7:00 PM	Networking, Cocktails & Appetizers

PDF Agenda