ASPECTS OF STABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHIPBUILDING BRANCH IN LATVIA
ASPECTS OF STABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHIPBUILDING BRANCH IN LATVIA

Summary/Abstract: Nations living near the Baltic Sea have constructed fishing boats since ancient times, as well as large commercial vessels for trading along the sea routes. Therefore, even nowadays the marine industry – vessel/ship or other watercraft construction, repair and maintenance are the important element of the industry of the country. The number of permanent employees in this branch is larger than 2 thousands and the number of enterprises exceeds several tens. The important factor that influences vessel construction development is the necessity to decrease the vessel construction costs and to increase the operational efficiency due to the rise of fuel prices. It is a necessary condition for stable development of branch to constantly improve business with the aim to increase competitiveness and output of the “mechanisms” for management thereof. Object of study: Latvian branch of construction, maintenance and repair of marine vessels. The aim - to develop recommendations for a successful development of the industry in a global competition. The problem - the need to identify and provide the prerequisites for a successful development of the industry. The originality of the paper is that the peculiarities of operation of vessel construction branch in Latvia after the regain of independence were considered for the first time. Analysis of aspects providing successful development of Latvian traditional branch of vessel construction has been done and substantiated recommendations have been elaborated. The novelty is that the main obstacles, which hinder the development of the industry, are identified and analyzed. Furthermore, this paper offers methods of solving these problems. There is an acute problem of development and improvement of human capital, the training of professionals who are able to accept the achievements of science, technology and to promote an innovation-based development of companies. Innovation with the participation of highly qualified professionals is regarded as the main solution, which will ensure competitiveness and sustainable development of the industry. It is necessary to develop a state program for innovative development of Latvian traditional shipbuilding industry.

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